The UN's cultural organisation, Unesco, says it has over 200 million speakers and is one of the most widely used African languages.

The African Union, which recently adopted Swahili as one of its official languages, has joined the celebrations:

https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion/status/1545006629414117377

Unesco says the theme for this year is promoting the language as "a beacon for unity, peace, and enhanced multiculturalism":

On Tuesday, Uganda's cabinet approved the adoption of Swahili as an official language - the latest move by countries and organisations around the continent to promote the language.