Honouring the Individuals Who Made Africa Next Voices Possible

When the Africa Next Voices (ANV) Project began, the aim was simple: bring together people from across South Africa to help record and annotate speech in their own languages. The project was not built around professional voice artists or specialists. It was shaped by lived experiences — by people from different communities, backgrounds, and walks of life who chose to contribute their voices and their time.

Together with our language leads, language assistants, proofreaders and recorders, Way With Words recorded, annotated and quality checked more than 3000 hours of audio across seven South African languages. Every contribution helped support the preservation, development, and continued use of languages that form an important part of the country’s cultural identity.

As the project reached an important milestone, we wanted to acknowledge the people behind the work. Each participant received a personalised certificate recognising their involvement in Africa Next Voices.

The response was overwhelmingly positive.

In South Africa, many people do not always have opportunities to receive formal recognition or accolades. For some participants, receiving a certificate was a meaningful moment — a tangible acknowledgement of their role in something larger than themselves. While all contributors were fairly compensated, appreciation is not only about payment; it is also about respect, recognition, and valuing the human stories behind the recordings.

What started as a small gesture became a powerful reminder that recognition matters. Africa Next Voices was built not just on audio files and transcripts, but on real people sharing their voices, experiences, and cultures.

To everyone who recorded, proofread, and supported the project: thank you for helping preserve and uplift South Africa’s languages, one voice at a time.