Long the world’s undisputed cocoa powerhouses, accounting for more than 60 percent of global supply, Ghana and its West African neighbour Ivory Coast are both facing catastrophic harvests this season.
Expectations of shortages of cocoa beans – the raw material for chocolate – have seen New York cocoa futures more than double this year alone. They have hit new record highs almost daily in an unprecedented trend that shows little sign of abating.
More than 20 farmers, experts and industry insiders told the Reuters news agency that a perfect storm of rampant illegal gold mining, climate change, sector mismanagement and rapidly spreading disease is to blame.
In its most sobering assessment to date, according to data compiled since 2018 and obtained by Reuters, Ghana’s cocoa marketing board Cocobod estimates that 590,000 hectares (1.45 million acres) of plantations have been infected with swollen shoot, a virus that will ultimately kill them.
Ghana today has some 1.38 million hectares (3.41 million acres) of land under cocoa cultivation, a figure Cocobod said includes infected trees that are still producing cocoa.
“Production is in long-term decline,” said Steve Wateridge, a cocoa expert with Tropical Research Services. “We wouldn’t get the lowest crop for 20 years in Ghana and lowest for eight years in Ivory Coast, if we hadn’t reached a tipping point.”
It is an imbroglio with no easy fixes that has shocked markets and could spell the beginning of the end of West Africa’s cocoa supremacy, the experts told Reuters. That may open the door for ascendant producers, particularly in Latin America.
And while millions of cocoa farmers in West Africa are facing a painful watershed moment, it is a shift that will also be felt in wealthy consumer markets, possibly for years to come.
Shoppers buying Easter confections in the United States are discovering that chocolate on store shelves is more than 10 percent more expensive than a year ago, according to data from research firm NielsenIQ.
Since chocolate-makers tend to hedge cocoa purchases months in advance, analysts have said the disastrous crops in West Africa will only really hit consumers later this year.
“The kind of chocolate bar that we’re used to eating, that’s going to become a luxury,” said Tedd George, an Africa-focused commodities expert with Kleos Advisory. “It will be available, but it’s going to be twice as expensive.”
As Ivory Coast came from a goal down to beat Nigeria and complete the most remarkable of sporting redemptions, it also encapsulated not only their own journey but that of a tournament, a continent and a man.
The 2-1 victory in the final for the Elephants was a huge achievement against the Super Eagles, who were heavy favourites and led by the African Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen.
Yet this was a tournament that sparked into life and never let go of a flame that burned with the dreams in every corner of Africa, producing upsets and stories that will live long in the memory of all and not just the Elephants.
To be capped by a winning goal scored by Sebastian Haller, diagnosed with testicular cancer in July 2022, was poetic to a wider audience, yet it is impossible to put into words what it must mean to the player and his family. As the sport’s governing body on the continent, the Confederation of African Football, dubbed it: “Haller’s story is one for the ages.”
It all began with Ivory Coast’s capitulation in Group A. It was the first major story of the tournament and made Sunday’s turnaround against Nigeria all the more spectacular.
The hosts, far from one of the favourites, opened the tournament with a solid 2-0 win against Guinea, it laid a marker that perhaps there was hope for the two-time champions among their more celebrated rivals.
Indeed it was the Super Eagles who entered the second group-stage match against the Elephants under some pressure. Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong settled the match, and Nigerian nerves following their point in the first match, from the spot.
The Ivorians’ implosion in the 4-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea in Abidjan in the final group match was the moment that confirmed a special AFCON was unfolding.
Coach Jean-Louis Gasset was removed from his post despite the possibility that the team might still progress. An urgent call was made to the former Ivorian coach and two-time AFCON winner as manager, Herve Renard. The French Football Federation rejected the request for a loan from their women’s national team boss.
Gasset’s assistant and former Ivorian international, Emerse Fae, who was forced to retire by illness as a player at 28, was handed the reins. Qualifying narrowly as one of the four best third-place finishers, the Elephants marched to a meeting with the defending champions, Senegal.
Franck Kessie’s 86th-minute spot kick took the tie to extra time and then penalties but their comeback against Mali in the quarterfinal was an even closer call. A 90th-minute equaliser and an injury-time winner in extra time led to belief that a stampede was forming. The Congolese players’ seemed tired in the semifinal, as it would appear were Nigeria’s in the final, perhaps under the weight of pressure.
For Fae, a door had been blown off its hinges for his coaching ambitions after his enforced career switch in his 20s.
For the scorer of the winning goal, a moment for the world to cherish and celebrate with him as Haller found both the net and the hearts of millions after his recovery from a diagnosis that was delivered only 18 months ago.
For a team, a redemption from a group stage to forget that saw the replica jerseys piled high in bins across the country but now worn with pride once more. The comeback of comebacks was complete.
Where were the Nigerians?
Nigeria, with the continent’s largest population, entered this edition as a clear contender. They boasted the strongest squad with depth in every position and were led by one of the world’s most prized talents in attack, Osimhen – crowned Africa Footballer of the Year in December.
Defence was clearly to be their best form of attack as Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro set up a five-man backline, with an onus on Osimhen to press from the front. A goal in the opening game from the Napoli striker rescued a point against Equatorial Guinea but, by the time the knockout rounds were progressing, that solitary strike was hanging over the 25-year-old forcing Peseiro to celebrate his performances based on Osimhen’s work rate for the team.
Just two goals were conceded in six games before the final, and once Troost-Ekong gave Nigeria a half-time lead after a nervy first 45 minutes, it appeared the Elephants were likely to face some task to trample the Super Eagles’ backline. As they had done throughout the first half, stamp all over it they did.
The build-up of pressure on the backline was too much for Nigeria, who registered just one shot on target. Osimhen, the leading scorer in Serie A last year as Napoli secured their first Italian title since 1990, was an isolated figure in attack.
Starved of opportunity by a structure that was focused on shutting out the opponent. “We should’ve pressed higher, but we didn’t. We conceded a goal and that’s where things went wrong,” reflected Nigeria defender Kenneth Omeruo in a conversation with Al Jazeera.
Nigeria were set, they had the squad, the stars and the plan but things fell apart. It was not quite something from a Chinua Achebe novel for Osimhen and the Nigerians, the striker and the team will go on. With AFCON taking place every two years, the nation of 213.4 million will target that elusive fourth title in Morocco in 2025.
The famous five disappear in a flash
When Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, Cameroon and Tunisia qualified for Qatar 2022, they created history as the most teams from Africa to appear in a World Cup.
When Morocco reached the quarterfinals, they became only the fourth nation from the continent to reach that stage.
A mighty array of talent with wounded Super Eagles determined to make up for the World Cup playoff heartbreak at the hands of the Ghanaians. Indeed it was Ghana who suffered the first shock of the tournament, losing to Cape Verde, but their blushes were spared when 2004 champions Tunisia were beaten by Namibia.
Two African giants fell at the group stage. They were not among the favourites and it was a welcome story of one back for the underdogs.
By the end of the round of 16, all five 2022 World Cup qualifiers were felled and something greater was that just an upset was unfolding. Where some of Africa’s biggest teams has battled to make a mark on the global stage for the continent for so many years, the smaller nations are now emerging to challenge their dominance in Africa.
The quarterfinals were made up of four teams yet to lift an AFCON title in Cape Verde, Mali, Angola and Guinea. Furthermore, there were four teams in the last 16 which were yet to hold aloft the trophy. Two-time winners DR Congo had refound former glories and defeated the record seven-time winners Egypt. South Africa, with their one victory in 1996, overcame Morocco.
No new winners were added to the list of AFCON champions in the end, but Ivory Coast’s revival, with their comeback tales, wrote the defining chapter in undoubtedly AFCON’s greatest story ever told.
The Elephants of Ivory Coast came from behind to complete a dramatic recovery and redemption on home soil at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations as they claimed a third continental title by beating Nigeria 2-1 in Abidjan on Sunday.
The Super Eagles had taken a first-half lead, against the run of play, through their captain William Troost-Ekong, but goals from Franck Kessie and Sebastian Haller condemned Nigeria to their fifth defeat in eight appearances in AFCON finals.
For striker Haller, and for even the most ardent Nigeria fan, it was a fitting finale to a journey back to full health having been diagnosed with testicular cancer in July 2022.
Ivory Coast were on the brink of elimination in the group stage, for which Haller was injured, and lost their coach Jean-Louis Gasset as a result.
Their victory on Sunday, secured against a Nigerian side that were heavy favourites, also marked the first win by any hosts since Egypt claimed the crown in 2006.
Let the Elephants’ party begin
The triumph, all the sweeter for so many side stories, left the people of the West African nation, gripped by a five-year civil war until 2007, dancing long into the night. Heavy traffic jams with cars blaring horns and the sound of vuvuzelas, a horn instrument blown by football fans, took over a 3km radius of the Ebimpe area of Abidjan.
“We are the champions of Africa. Long live the Elephants,” jubilant Ivorian fan Siaka Kouassi told Al Jazeera.
“No team was better and we deserve to win against Nigeria. We are ready to party all night long,” a sweaty Maimouna Yaya added.
On the pitch, Nigeria had taken the lead through Troost-Ekong’s powerful first-half header before Kessie equalised with his aerial effort from a corner just past the hour-mark for the hosts.
Haller, who returned to playing in January 2023 after four rounds of chemotherapy and surgery in November 2022, steered Simon Adingra’s cross into the net to break Nigerian hearts with less than 10 minutes to play.
“It’s the power of the group and the mindset that put us through,” said Ivorian man of the match Adingra.
“We had some challenging moments but we rescued ourselves, although it wasn’t easy. The mental fortitude saw us restore our chances and do what we achieved today.
“Our people deserve this victory because they stood with us even when many thought we were dead.”
Pressing problems for Nigeria
The Super Eagles made surprise changes to the starting 11 with Samuel Chukwueze preferred over Moses Simon in attack, while the fit-again Zaidu Sanusi was picked ahead of Bright Osayi-Samuel on the flank.
It meant Nigeria, unbeaten with four clean sheets in six matches previously in the tournament, adopted the same defensive approach they used until their semifinal against South Africa. As a result, they failed to press their dominant opponents on the night.
“The Ivorians fought till the end. We should’ve pressed higher, but we didn’t,” Nigeria defender Kenneth Omeruo told Al Jazeera.
“We conceded a goal and that’s where things went wrong. Congratulations to the Ivorians.”
The tournament’s most valuable player and Nigeria captain Troost-Ekong said he would trade his best player award for the AFCON trophy. “No one gave us a chance before the start of the tournament but we exceeded expectations,” he said.
“It’s an unfortunate end to a great campaign and heartbreaking for us as a team. Ivory Coast wanted it more.”
Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka says most of the Nigerian players are shattered and broken. “I feel sad. We fought till the end. It just wasn’t our day, and we were made to pay for it.
“We tried to play as the coach asked us to do by playing our game, but this was simply not a solid Super Eagles performance.”
Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro, whose future is now in the air, as his two-year contract expired at the end of the tournament, admitted his side were second best.
“Our team had a fantastic tournament but today Ivory Coast was better,” the 63-year-old said. “Our team didn’t show our level. That’s the truth. It was not the same job as we did in the previous rounds.”
For Peseiro’s opposite number, Emerse Fae, the future is clouded for a very different reason.
The 40-year-old was appointed as interim manager to replace Gasset following two defeats in the group stage.
It was not so much a comeback for Fae, as in the sense of his side’s redemption and the recovery of their match-winning hero Haller, but rather the completion of an evolution following the cards life dealt him.
The former Ivorian international, who played in the Premier League with Reading, focused on coaching at the age of 28 when he was forced to retire from playing due to Phlebitis, the inflammation of veins close to the skin.
Fae said it was too soon to speak about his future and instead insisted he just wanted to celebrate a significant achievement in the history of Ivorian football.
“Everyone suffered to achieve this, now we can celebrate being African champions,” he said.
“This victory is for our people who stood by us and never stopped supporting us.”
For Fae, Haller and the Ivorian team as a whole at the tournament, this AFCON was the story of mighty Elephants who never stopped marching through terrain that seemed ever inclining in front of them.
Who: Nigeria vs Ivory Coast What: CAF AFCON 2023 final When: Sunday, February 11, 2024, 20:00 GMT Where: Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro has sought to play down his side’s tag as favourites for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations crown while talking up his misfiring African footballer of the year Victor Osimhen.
The Super Eagles face the hosts, Ivory Coast, who they beat 1-0 in the group stage in the final at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan on Sunday.
The Elephants were nearly eliminated at the first hurdle having also lost to Equatorial Guinea in the final group-stage match, and parted company with their manager Jean-Louis Gasset while they awaited clarification as to whether they would progress as one of the four best third-placed finishers.
“There is no favourite for the final,” insisted the Portuguese coach. “Each side has a 50 percent chance, but we are determined to win this final.”
Osimhen, meantime, has previously received praise from his coach for his work rate and performances at the tournament.
The Napoli striker earned his side a point in Nigeria’s opening match against Equatorial Guinea but has yet to find the net again.
“He doesn’t play like he is the star. He fights for the team and is completely unselfish,” said Peseiro.
“He knows he is an important player and he gives us the best energy. He has suffered a lot in this tournament with all the attention he receives from the opposing defenders because he knows it is a team game.”
Ivory Coast’s interim coach Emerse Fae was not his country’s first choice to replace the outgoing Gasset yet now he leads his country in the final.
Now Fae can now join an elite list of Africa Cup of Nations-winning managers just weeks after taking charge of a senior match for the first time.
It would be an extraordinary achievement for the 40-year-old French-born former Ivorian international, who played for his country in the 2006 final – albeit on the losing side.
He had been assistant to Gasset over the last 18 months so was well versed in what happened and what needed to be done.
“We had difficult days emotionally and mentally and we came through the back door,” admitted Fae. “Losing 4-0 at home was terrible, and then afterwards we had to wait. Honestly, it was very difficult to work, to heal the wounds while crossing your fingers.”
Fae made several key changes and the Ivorians showed impressive mental fortitude in overcoming holders Senegal in the last 16 and neighbours Mali in the quarterfinal, coming from behind in both matches.
Their semifinal victory over the Democratic Republic of the Congo continued the comeback. Local press have dubbed Fae the “Special One”.
“No, no, no, that’s not true,” he replied on Saturday when asked about the tag first used for Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.
“It has been a collective to get us all here.”
Nigeria’s players to watch
The African footballer of the year has yet to find his goalscoring touch at this tournament but has won praise from his coach for his work rate and performances.
Ademola Lookman
The former Everton forward scored all three goals his side managed in the round of 16 and quarterfinal wins against Cameroon and Angola. Where Osimhen is drawing the attention of numerous opposition players both in and out of possession, it has created openings for others which Lookman has fully taken advantage of.
William Troost-Ekong
The captain has been a leader in every sense for his side. The rock of the side’s defence, which has only conceded two goals at the tournament, Troost-Ekong has also scored two penalties, including one against Ivory Coast in the group, in normal time and netted in the shootout win against South Africa.
The Borussia Dortmund striker was only fit enough to start for the first time in the tournament against DRC in the semifinal. It was his goal, albeit somewhat of a miss-kick, that sent the Elephants to the final. As much as an Ivorian win would be an incredible redemption at this edition, it would also mark a remarkable comeback for Haller, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022.
Simon Adingra
The Brighton and Hove Albion winger is becoming something of a sensation at the tournament and is undoubtedly a fan favourite among the host nation’s supporters. Every time the ball arrives at Adingra’s feet the level of expectation and volume inside the venues lift. It was Adingra who netted the 90th-minute equaliser against Mali in the semifinal that took the tie to extra time.
Franck Kessie
The midfielder signed for Al-Alhi in the Saudi Pro League last year having been one of the hottest properties in European football for some time. The 27-year-old joined Serie A club Atalanta as a teenager before being snapped up by Italian giants AC Milan in 2019. Barcelona brought Kessie, who has been a driving force in the centre of the park, to Spain in 2022 before his move to Saudi Arabia.
Nigeria will hope there is no repeat of the abdominal complaint that resulted in Osimhen having to travel a day later than the rest of the squad for their semifinal.
Left-back Zaidu Sanusi missed the semifinal with South Africa due to a hamstring injury but will be given a late-fitness test in the run-up to the final, having been a constant prior to the meeting with Bafana Bafana.
Nigeria’s predicted starting XI: Stanley Nwabali, Semi Ajayi, William Troost-Ekong, Calvin Bassey, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Moses Simon, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman.
Ivory Coast welcome back the suspended pairing of Odilon Kossounou and Oumar Diakire, both of whom were sent off in the quarterfinal win against Mali. Kossounou was a starter in that game and is expected to return to the defence in place of Willy Bolly.
Ivory Coast’s predicted starting XI: Yahia Fofana, Wilfried Singo, Odilon Kossounou, Evan Ndicka, Ghislain Konan, Frank Kessié, Jean-Michael Seri, Seko Fofana, Max Gradel, Sebastian Haller, Simon Adingra.
Goals from Romain Saiss, Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri see Morocco cruise past 10-man Tanzania.
Morocco underlined their status as pre-tournament favourites by beating 10-man Tanzania 3-0 to make a winning start to their Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Group F.
The World Cup semifinalists got their campaign under way with an impressive performance at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro on Wednesday.
Captain Romain Saiss scored a rare goal to put the Atlas Lions ahead at halftime with Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri adding two more in the space of three second-half minutes to emphasise their dominance, especially after Tanzania had Novatus Miroshi sent off after a second caution.
En-Nesyri had to wait until he was on the substitutes’ bench before celebrating his goal.
En-Nesyri’s celebrations were initially cut short by the offside flag after he scored his team’s third goal in the 80th minute. He had already made way for substitute Amine Harit to go on in his place before a VAR check confirmed he had been onside for Achraf Hakimi’s cross.
It prompted En-Nesyri’s teammates to rush to the Moroccan bench to congratulate the Sevilla forward.
Ounahi sealed the win seven minutes later after playing a one-two with Amine Adli and striking a low shot inside the left post, three minutes before En-Nesyri had the final say.
Although an African powerhouse for decades, Morocco are seeking only a second Cup of Nations title 48 years after lifting the trophy in Ethiopia.
The victory over group outsiders Tanzania in the southwest of the Ivory Coast was anticipated as Morocco are ranked 13th in the world, 108 places above the Taifa Stars.
Morocco began with seven players from the team that started in the 2-0 World Cup semifinal loss to France in Qatar.
There were three La Liga players, two each from the Premier League and Ligue 1 and two with Saudi Pro League sides. Moroccans with Turkish and Egyptian clubs completed the lineup.
This contrasted sharply with Tanzania, whose lineup included Tarryn Allarakhia from English fifth-tier outfit Wealdstone. The winger struggled and was replaced after 38 minutes.
The convincing scoreline matched the three-goal victory for holders Senegal over The Gambia on Monday, reinforcing their status as the continent’s top-ranked sides and the teams most fancied for success at the tournament.
Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Cocktails being named after popular African footballers. Street merchants draped in samples of the orange-white-and-green Ivorian flags stacked for sale on their shoulders. Women decked in the jersey of Les Elephants, the senior men’s football team, dancing in the market. Wire designs of balls hung as overhead street decor alongside signs flanking the road from the airport into the Abidjan city centre. Big screens going up at large open-air beer parlours or maquis, across the nation.
On the eve of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), host country Ivory Coast is agog with anticipation. Nowhere is this more evident than in its commercial capital Abidjan, the economic powerhouse of Francophone Africa.
While the goals the 24 participating countries score during the footballing spectacle will likely elicit the loudest cheers, the tournament is also a source of patriotic joy for millions in this West African nation, where football has often been a tool for unity.
On several occasions, legendary striker Didier Drogba has used his stature as one of football’s greats and one of the most popular Africans alive, to call for lasting peace in his home country.
In October 2005, immediately after Les Elephants qualified for their first-ever appearance at the World Cup, Drogba, surrounded by his kneeling teammates pleaded with warring factions in the ongoing civil war, to lay down their arms. That wish was granted within a week.
Just over two years ago, the former Chelsea striker again called for peace in his country following unrest that caused the deaths of nearly 100 people after President Alassane Ouattara – whose 2010 win triggered the second civil war – secured a controversial third term in office in November 2020.
“We are happy we can host Africa today,” says Brice Kouame, a patron at Blockosso, a lagoonside agglomeration of maquis in northern Abidjan, while sipping a Beaufort, a local beer. Having skipped the 2017 Francophone Games in the city, the last major sporting event the country hosted, the 27-year-old can’t wait for proceedings to begin on Saturday.
Construction and controversy
President Ouattara alluded to the potential reconciliatory role of hosting the Nations Cup for a second time – the other time was in 1984 – when he told the nation during his New Year’s address: “We must show our ability to unite, to make our country shine.”
His government has been busy ahead of the tournament.
In addition to a new shiny $260m, 60,000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of Abidjan named after Ouattara, several stadiums have been built or upgraded across four other cities: the capital Yamoussoukro, Korhogo to the north, the central hub of Bouake and dreamy coastal San Pedro near the Liberian border.
Two new bridges crossing the Ebrie Lagoon in Abidjan have been commissioned in the last seven months, to manage traffic in the city. Roads and hotels have also been upgraded.
The month-long event is expected to boost tourism in the Ivory Coast, especially from within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which is home to 11 of the 24 participating teams. Fans are taking advantage of freedom of movement within the bloc to pour into the country to support their teams.
But the world’s largest cocoa producer spending an eye-popping $1bn to host Africa’s biggest sporting event when almost half of its 25 million people live on $1.2 or less a day, has led to criticism for the Ouattara administration’s priorities.
And there has been more controversy.
Last September, the new Abidjan stadium, the main venue, was flooded after a downpour. It cost Patrick Achi and and Paulin Danho their jobs as prime minister and sport minister respectively, and an unnamed amount to relay the pitch.
The initial construction of the stadium was financed by a $180m “gift” from the Chinese government as a gesture to celebrate 35 years of friendship between the two countries. It is the latest example of Beijing’s controversial “palace diplomacy” projects across Africa.
A worker spreads fertiliser on the lawn of the Bouake stadium, ahead of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations [AFCON] scheduled to take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024, in Bouake, Ivory Coast December 7, 2023 [Luc Gnago/Reuters]
Dream or mirage?
Nevertheless, Yacine Idriss Diallo, president of the Ivory Coast Football Federation thinks the investment is for a worthy cause.
“This investment is not only for football but for the entire country. The roads will be used by the people of the country, the hospitals too and the stadiums will be used by sports teams,” enthused Diallo.
The new 20,000-seat stadium in San Pedro, named after legendary Ivorian striker Laurent Pokou, was finished not long after the road linking it to Abidjan was fixed, halving the arduous eight-hour road journey between both places. Consequently, San Pedro’s two top division teams Sewe Sport and San Pedro FC no longer have to go to Abidjan where they were forced to play their home games due to the absence of an adequate venue in their hometown.
Diallo, a former vice president of 29-time Ivorian league winners ASEC Mimosas, is also hopeful that the modern facilities – including four new training pitches in the host cities – will accelerate the development of the country’s next generation of talent.
“The academies are very important, and it is from there you can build good teams,” he says. “We are trying to improve this across the country because we have lots of players from areas outside Abidjan…our football [teams] will have nice infrastructure to play and Ivory Coast will become a hub for football in West Africa. Many countries will now come to play on our fields.”
Diallo highlights the emergence of Wilfried Singo and Simon Adingra from remote areas to star respectively with top French side Monaco and impressive Brighton who have lit up the English Premier League.
The 23-year-old Singo came from AS Denguele based in Odienne, about 700km north of Abidjan. Adingra, the 22-year-old midfielder who has made a big impression in his first season with the Seagulls after moving from Danish side Nordsjaelland, is from Bondouko.
“We need to go into country to provide opportunities to those young people to play and develop into top players,” says Diallo.
Like him, Paul Melly, consulting fellow with the Africa Programme at London-based think-tank Chatham House, believes the massive expenditure to host the tournament could be beneficial in the long term.
“The $1bn capital outlay is hefty and open to complaints the money could be better spent on basic public services,” he says. “But taking the long view, it could prove a shrewd investment: with host stadiums in five different cities the economic impact of the tournament will be spread around the country. Moreover, the Nations Cup will showcase [the Ivory Coast’s] potential as an emerging market and business services hub.”
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that the Ivorian economy, currently Africa’s 10th largest, will grow by a healthy 6.6 percent in 2024. This would place it among the top 10 best-performing economies in the world. Still, there are concerns about whether that can trickle down to the households most vulnerable to the soaring costs of living, nationwide.
Bright Simon, Research Lead at IMANI, an Accra-based pan-African think tank, highlights the experiences of previous tournament hosts who envisioned post-cup growth that barely came.
“Research shows that South Africa’s World Cup effort added about 0.5 percent to [gross domestic product] in 2010 but the aftermath has been economically disappointing,” he tells Al Jazeera. “Ghana saw the new stadia built for the 2008 Nations Cup deteriorate fairly rapidly and has still not found a means for them to pay for themselves.”
“Of course, infrastructure like roads, hotels and hospitals may fare better, but only if their design and siting are very strategic. In some cases, like we saw with Cameroon’s Nations Cup effort in 2022, there are no linkages to broader economic corridors, thus leading to underwhelming development outcomes,” Simon adds.
A general view of the main entrance of the upgraded Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium ahead of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations [AFCON], scheduled to take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024, in Abidjan [Luc Gnago/Reuters]
‘We will try to do our best’
While the cost-analysis debate continues, Ivorian authorities are excited about bringing to life an idea that Ouattara has had since 2014.
“Our country has come very far,” Diallo tells Al Jazeera. “Ten years ago it was tough here [because of the civil war], but now you see the country is quiet, there is peace and everybody is working hard to improve their lives. Hosting the tournament is very important for nation-building. During the Africa Cup of Nations, you will see the passion for the game in this country.”
The current feel-good factor among Ivorians about hosting the Nations Cup could be boosted by an above-average performance by the Serge Aurier-led Elephants, one of the favourites to win the competition.
However, while many Ivorians are hoping their team repeats the success of their predecessors of 1992 and 2015, even Diallo is careful not to get his hopes too high about the Elephants’ chances of lifting African football’s most coveted prize for a third time.
“Of course, it will be good for the tournament if our team does well … but we are building a new team,” he says. “Thirty percent of the team is very young. It will be their first major competition, so we will try to do our best to go as far as possible and try to win the trophy.”
As the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off in Ivory Coast this weekend, few players will be under the spotlight as much as Victor Osimhen.
Despite only recently turning 25, the Nigeria striker is central to the Super Eagles’ hopes of a fourth continental triumph, a distinction he seeks to cap a steep rise in his profile over the last 18 months.
Since breaking out as a star at the under-17 World Cup in 2015 by finishing as top scorer, Osimhen has borne comparisons with some of Nigeria’s greats, from Rashidi Yekini to Nwankwo Kanu.
In leading Napoli to title success in Serie A – the Italian top flight – last season and becoming the first Nigerian to win the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Player of the Year for 24 years, he has begun to justify some expectations. In December, Osimhen also secured top 12 finishes in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best awards, cementing a reputation as one of the deadliest finishers in world football.
Still, the springy forward believes there is more to come.
“It is a huge honour to be compared to some of our legends,” he tells Al Jazeera. “It motivates me a lot. But what motivates me more is making my own way, achieving my own goals.”
Within football, there is little doubt that he is capable of doing precisely that. Emmanuel Adebayor and Didier Drogba, both former African Footballer of the Year winners and global footballing icons, have spoken highly of the Nigeria international, touting him for a move to the Premier League in England.
The transfer market agrees: interest in Osimhen was so fierce that Napoli moved, following protracted negotiations, to sign him on to an extension until 2026, keen to avoid the loss of their headline asset.
Victor Osimhen, one of the most exciting forwards in the world at the moment [Filippo Monteforte/AFP] (AFP)
‘A lot of responsibility’
Having proven himself at club level, attention now shifts to him at AFCON, where Nigeria will face perhaps the strongest field – there are no debutants in this year’s edition – the competition has ever seen.
On paper, the Super Eagles have one of the best squads in Ivory Coast, a fact that, despite poor recent results and performances, is not lost on Osimhen.
“We have a very strong team, full of players with talent and experience,” he says. “All over Europe, we have players in all the top teams showing great form. We also get along really well: I’m friends personally with a lot of them. Our spirit is strong.”
Despite that strength in depth and team ethos, Nigeria go into the AFCON with a cloud hanging over them. Coach Jose Peseiro divides public opinion and has only won six of his 14 matches since taking charge of the team. The Super Eagles opened their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with consecutive draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and there remains a lack of clarity over who the team’s starting goalkeeper is.
The onus, therefore, is on the attack: if Nigeria is to equal its championship-winning performances of 1980, 1994, and 2013, it will be on the back of Osimhen’s goals. Other attackers like Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface and Real Sociedad’s Umar Sadiq have withdrawn from the squad due to injuries.
Having missed out on the last edition of the competition two years prior, he feels the need to make up for lost time; for all his success at club level and in qualifying matches for the Super Eagles, Osimhen has yet to headline a major international tournament at senior level.
“Like I’ve said before, if I never win the AFCON for Nigeria, people will question me,” he says. “And it would be justified: there is a lot of responsibility on me. I know that, and I’m not running away from it.
Nigerian author and Super Eagles fan Joshua Omojuwa thinks he will deliver as expected: “Osimhen has proven to be a reliable striker through the years … if the team plays to enhance his strengths, he’d easily win top scorer of the tournament and possibly even lead Nigeria to the final.”
The Super Eagles kick off their campaign against Equatorial Guinea on January 14, and will then face the host nation Ivory Coast and underdogs Guinea-Bissau – to whom they lost in qualifying – on January 18 and 22 respectively.
Nigeria has not failed to progress from the group stage at an AFCON since 1982; it has also won four silver medals and eight bronze.
However, since 2019’s bronze medal finish, their fans have had little to smile about. Nevertheless, many Nigerians at home and in the diaspora are supporting the squad to perform well at the tournament, led by their star striker.
“There’s a lot of weight on his shoulders, no doubt, but the next few weeks will be his biggest moments in a Super Eagles shirt,” says Abuja-based Tunde Sawyerr, a longstanding Super Eagles fan. “His supporting cast and how much Peseiro is able to maximise Osimhen’s well-known abilities and deploy the most suitable tactics will make all the difference.”
To that, Osimhen says this crop of players is “desperate” for the big prize and will perform against all odds.
“We want to win every match, every trophy available, to make Nigerians proud of us again. Our coaches have some new ideas to help us get there, and if we work together as a team, anything is possible,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I want to win the AFCON with my country and write my own legacy. All the greats in Nigeria have a title to their name and to be mentioned in that space I must win it, too.”
They may weigh a maximum of 500 grammes (one pound) and only grow to 10 centimetres (four inches), but the farming of giant snails is proving to be big business in the Ivory Coast.
Considered a delicacy for their tasty flesh, the giant snails are also used to make cosmetics manufactured from their slime and shells.
But nearly 90 percent of the West African country’s forests have disappeared over the last 60 years, something which, together with the widespread use of pesticides, has decimated wild snails’ natural habitat.
Most forest has been lost to agricultural production in the world’s top producer of cocoa – to the detriment of the creatures that naturally thrive in a hot, humid environment.
As wild snail numbers have steadily fallen, farms that specialise in breeding them have increasingly sprung up. There are some 1,500 in the humid south alone.
A popular appetiser in the Ivory Coast, the snails are bred on farms such as one of many in the town of Azaguie, some 40km (25 miles) north of the commercial capital, Abidjan.
Inside some 10 brick and cement containers topped with mesh lids is a layer of earth and another of leaves.
Between the two slither thousands of snails, juveniles and breeders – some much larger than those found in Europe.
The gastropods are watered and fed every two days.
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