The persistent financial challenges facing the Pan-African Parliament, the legislative arm of the African Union, have come under the spotlight at the institution's First Ordinary Session of the Seventh Legislature in South Africa. The PAP Permanent Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs presented the institution's budget and highlighted key financial and operational issues. The approved budget for the 2026 financial year is about 10.5 million U.S. dollars, amid continued calls to restore funding levels to those seen before 2019. Nhlanhla Mahlangu reports.