Africa is a continent with a rich reservoir of resources, but the continent’s biggest asset by far is the warmth, friendliness, humility and humanity of its people. This was the inspiration for the Official Slogan of the 2010 FIFA World Cup :

“KeNako”. “Celebrate Africa’s Humanity”.

The slogan was launched by the Chairman of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa, Irvin Khoza, on 25 November during the worldwide broadcast of the Preliminary Draw TV show in Durban, which was attended by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, and FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, as well as 3 000 delegates from FIFA member countries from all around the world.

“Ke Nako” means simply ‘it’s time’. And indeed Africa’s time has come to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup to change perceptions of Africa and reposition the continent in a positive light with South Africa as the theatre and Africa the stage.

“We want, on behalf of our continent, to stage an event that will send ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo – an event that will create social and economic opportunities throughout Africa.

We want to ensure that one day, historians will reflect upon the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a moment when Africa stood tall and resolutely turned the tide on centuries of poverty and conflict.

We want to show that Africa’s time has come,” South Africa’s President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, has said repeatedly.

“Given that we have been granted this huge opportunity to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2010 by you our friends, many of whom are here today, we felt it appropriate that we develop a message, a theme that would resonate with the objectives of the global football family as well as the intentions and ambitions of the African diaspora.

In the development of this slogan – our 2010 message – we were also inspired by the outpouring of excitement and joy that we witnessed from villages and cities across the continent when President Blatter announced the name “South Africa” on 15 May 2004.

To best capture these sentiments we as the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa have decided that the slogan of the first FIFA World Cup on the African continent should be:

‘Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa’s Humanity’, said Dr. Khoza.

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