Africa Cup of Nations: The story so far

When writing my last blog I was anticipating the start of the Cup. Sadly the terrorist attack on the Togo team bus has overshadowed the competition; my thoughts go out to the family and friends of those who were attacked. Whilst I do not want to get too political in this blog I feel the need to question the negative comments towards Africa, especially comments from certain football managers that suggested that FIFA should reconsider holding the World Cup in South Africa later in the year. We must remember that Africa is a large continent, why should problems that occur in one country affect those in other countries hundreds of miles away?

There was talk of cancelling the Cup of Nations before a ball was kicked. As a comparison in the UK, Euro ’96 continued despite the Manchester city centre bombing. The day after the bombing over 50,000 were present at Old Trafford in Manchester to watch Germany play Russia. In 2005 the Ashes cricket series continued after the suicide bombings on the London underground, and this was despite another failed attack the day it was due to start and terrorist plans to attack the crowd at Lords. Of course, these examples are different to what has happened in Angola as the attacks in the UK were not directly on a team, but to cancel the competition would have let the terrorists win. Angola has a history of trouble, but to get to where it is today and to be hosting the Cup of Nations is remarkable. Just like the West, Africa must be given the chance to learn from hosting these competitions. Let us remember the lost Togolese, but not use this as an opportunity to knock Africa.

Going back to the Cup there have been a few surprises with Côte d’Ivore being held to a 0 – 0 draw by fellow West Africans Burkina Faso, and Cameroon losing 1 – 0 to Gabon. Nigeria did not fare any better losing 3 – 1 to current holders Egypt. The match I had been looking forward to was Côte d’Ivore v Ghana. This proved to be a lively encounter with my team tipped for the Cup, Côte d’Ivore, winning 3 – 1. Despite Eboue being sent off in the 55^th minute, goals from Gervinho, Tiene and Drogba sealed an emphatic win for the Elephants. Ghana could only pull one back with Gyan scoring a penalty in extra time. Since this match last Friday the ‘top’ teams have established dominance with wins for Nigeria (beating Benin 3 – 0), Cameroon (beating Zambia 3 – 2), and Ghana (beating Burkina Faso 1 – 0). Ghana scraped through the group stages but lost Michael Essien - one of their best players - on the way with a torn ligament that will keep him out of action for a month.

From the West African teams that started the competition we have now lost Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Togo (who withdrew from the competition due to the tragic attack on their team bus). This now leaves the top dogs of West African football in the cup; Cameroon, Côte d’Ivore, Ghana and Nigeria. The quarter finals will take place over Sunday and Monday:

Angola v Ghana 24/01/2010 16:00 (GMT) Luanda

Côte d'Ivoire v Algeria 24/01/2010 19:30 (GMT) Cabinda

Egypt v Cameroon 25/01/2010 16:00 (GMT) Benguela

Zambia v Nigeria 25/01/2010 19:30 (GMT) Lubango

With less than 10 days of the Cup left I’m looking forward to seeing if my predictions come true for once and Côte d’Ivoire can go all the way. If they overcome Algeria in the quarters then they will face either Egypt or Cameroon, both excellent teams. Whatever happens, it is sure to be interesting!

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Contact me at harry@westafricadiscovery.co.uk

Sierra Leone: a country with huge tourism potential

Situated in West Africa, with its pristine beaches, transparent seas, tropical forests, unique wildlife, historical heritage sites and most importantly friendly people, Sierra Leone (or Salone, as it is known to the locals), with Royal Air Maroc flights from £500, has great potential to become the next destination for those looking for new experiences and a friendly, relaxing atmosphere.

Once you have decided that Sierra Leone is your next travel spot, the next step is to decide on what to do on your stay in this fascinating country. The list of things to do is endless with so many attractions to pick from. This list below highlights a few of the possible options.

Markets
Sierra Leone is deemed the fishing ground of West Africa. For the fishing enthusiast this is the place to be. The markets in Freetown (the Capital) are vibrant and bustling as every trader looks to sell their produce.

Nature and Wildlife
Turtle Island is a conservation society surrounded by a fishing community. Besides the fishing there are excellent opportunities for bird watching, with breeding colonies in the Western Peninsula Forest Reserve not far from Freetown.

Also found on the south-western coast of Sierra Leone is the Yawri bay located about 60km southeast of Freetown. Yawri Bay is home to tens of thousands of birds for a quarter period of the year. It also supports a major local fishing industry.

National Parks / Reserves
National Parks are many in Sierra Leone, and shelter an abundance of Flora and Fauna species. They are Kuru Hills, Lake Mape/Mabesi, Lake Sonfon, Loma Mountains, Outamba-Kilimi, Western Area. The Outamba Kilimi National Park has an interesting array of animals from the Chimpanzee to Savanna Buffalo to Leopards. It is also an excellent spot for bird watching.

There are also a few wildlife Sanctuaries, which aim to protect endangered species of wildlife and plants. These include Bo Plains, Tiwai Island, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, and nature reserves such as Bagru-Moteva Creeks, Bumpe Mangrove Swamp, Kagboro Creek (Yawri Bay), Kpaka-Pujehun, Sewa-Waanje are also a must-see.

Some nature reserves in Sierra Leone are strictly non hunting nature reserves and forest reserves. These are: The Kambui Hills Forest Reserve is situated about 300 km south-east of Freetown with the second highest peak in Sierra Leone, the Sankan Birriwa. The scenic nature would be very appealing to visitors and scientists with over 200 separate species of birds.

Tingi Hills Forest Reserve also a non-hunting reserve is located close to Sierra Leone’s eastern border with the Republic of Guinea. The Tingi Hills is the easternmost mountain range in Sierra Leone. The forest reserve includes two peaks separated by a narrow gorge. Both peaks stand over 1800m, but the northernmost which is 1850m high, is the second highest in Sierra Leone.

Beaches and Islands
The Banana Islands are the location for interesting historical facts like the firing point and four guns near the old wharf at Dublin and the two old Tombstones in the cemetery also at Dublin. You can also enjoy lobster, fish or chicken for lunch before heading back to Freetown.

The west of Freetown is mainly residential and further west (South-West) you will find some of the country’s most beautiful beaches. Like the Freetown Peninsula which is bestowed with breath-taking beauty.

As tourism is still developing in Sierra Leone these beaches remain in pristine condition. Other beaches include Lungi Beaches, Shenge, Sulima, Sherbro Peninsular, and Turner’s Peninsular.

Historical and Heritage Sites
Sierra Leone also offers attractions that cater for those who are interested by historical facts. Remnants from the early colonial eras are still present in the country.

The Sierra Leone national Museum is the home of the ‘Ruiter stone’, the main attraction of the museum. The replica of a 1664 rock graffito, scratched by bored Dutch sea captains during a lull in a military expedition against the English, was discovered in the course of drainage work on the waterfront in 1923. It stands as the oldest archaeological evidence of a European presence in the strip of land.

Old Fourah Bay College located in Freetown stands as the oldest university in West Africa having the likes of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, as the college’s first student and the first African Anglican Bishop from Nigeria.

The St John's Maroon Church was erected by the Maroons in 1822, who arrived in the colony in 1800 as those returning from Jamaica. It is among the oldest churches in Sierra Leone. It stands between current day Liverpool Street and Percival Street.

The Gateway to the Old King's Yard: When Sierra Leone became a British Colony and the abolition Act had come into effect, the Navy were deployed in trying to stop the still on-going Slave Traffic. The rescued slaves where landed at King Jimmy Wharf and taken to a compound constructed for them. This site was referred to as the King’s Yard. Popular figures to have passed through ‘The Asylum’ include Samuel Ajayi Crowther and John Ezzidio.

Bunce Island was the largest British slave castle lying on the Sierra Leone River of West Africa. Founded around 1670, it exported tens of thousands of African captives to North America and the West Indies until it was closed it down in 1808.

And these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the appeal that Sierra Leone has, and the potential it shows as a popular destination for those seeking new experiences and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. For more information on the things to do, visit and see in Sierra Leone, visit the Sierra Leone National Tourism Board website.

West Africa Discovery is currently in talks with ground tour operators and other tourism suppliers in Sierra Leone in order to be able to compile a database of tours, accommodation and voluntourism projects which have implemented or are in the process of implementing policies which reflect the Cape Town, Kerala and the recent Belize declarations on Responsible Tourism in destinations, and subsequently list them under their Responsible Tourism ‘Holidays’ pages.

Article written by Iyaniwura Adewunmi.

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Contact me at thomas@westafricadiscovery.co.uk

Africa Cup of Nations: Kicking off a great year for African football

Happy New Year and welcome to the first WAD blog of 2010! As Tom mentioned last week the last year has been a busy one, and there is going to be plenty of exciting stuff coming up too. As I’ve talked about in a previous blog there is going to be a massive focus on the African continent this summer with the World Cup Finals hosted in South Africa. For the sport hungry people amongst you there is a nice warm-up to the World Cup with the Africa Cup of Nations starting in Angola within the next few days.

The Africa Cup of Nations is the main football competition for African countries held every two years. This historic year of African football kicks off the continent's football extravaganza this Sunday when Angola hosts the 27th Cup of Nations. The competition started in 1957, three years before Europe staged a similar tournament. Since then the Cup of Nations has evolved from a small event to become one of the most eagerly awaited tournaments in the world, featuring some of the finest talent from Europe's biggest clubs.

This event has been highly anticipated by Angolans who, using funds from the IMF and China, have constructed four new football stadiums. It was only seven years ago that the 27 year long civil war came to an end, a war which took a million lives and displaced four million others. The fact that Angola has been chosen to host the 2010 cup is a sign of confidence in the stability of the region and shows that this once deeply troubled country is on the rise. It is an oil rich country, and despite the controversies around African oil mining, this is surely what the government are relying on to help build up the infrastructure and bring the country out of poverty. Oil provides 95% of Angola’s export wealth, mostly from exporting to China. China’s role in Africa gets a bad rap in the Western media at the moment; this article gives an interesting counter viewpoint (but that’s a whole debate for another day).

By hosting the Africa Cup of Nations over this month, Angola also hopes that it can kick start its tourism industry. Angola has a lot to offer with its pristine beaches, warm climate, and distinct colonial Portuguese architecture. However Angola is not a destination for your regular English speaking tourist, seeking creature comforts. English is not widely spoken (80% speak Portuguese) and means of transport such as taxis were only introduced a month before the cup. But this is where local operators on the ground can help and give tourists a unique and inspiring experience.

Unfortunately, flights to Angola from Europe are expensive and tend to be booked up by oil and construction companies in advance, with flights starting at 1,000 dollars. Travelling to Angola to watch their team this month will be way too expensive for most African football fans. A standard hotel room in the capital of Luanda cost more than 400 dollars per night, and restaurants charge the same if not more than what you would expect to pay in London. As Angola continues to grow a better tourism infrastructure can be implemented, with the money created going back into local communities.

Egypt may be the competition’s current champions, but once again the West African region has shown its dominance of African football, claiming four of the five spots for the World Cup in South Africa. Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria have booked their places in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. For the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, fifteen teams join host country Angola. They are Cameroon, Gabon, Togo, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mozambique, Ghana, Benin, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Malawi; eight of which are West African countries!

The bookmakers’ favourites for the competition are Côte d'Ivoire with a team filled with players from the top levels of European football clubs. They qualified comfortably and have a number of talented players in their side including Didier Drogba, brothers Kolo & Yaya Toure, Didier Zokora, Emmanuel Eboue, and Salomon Kalou, also making them one of the outside chances for the World Cup. Two years ago Cote d’Ivore arrived at the Cup of Nations in Ghana as favourites only to be overrun 4-1 by Egypt in the semi-final. This time around they will be keen to dispel accusations of complacency and showcase their talent in what is set to be a great year for African football.

The groups have been drawn as follows:

Group A: Algeria, Angola, Malawi, Mali

Group B: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo

Group C: Benin, Egypt, Mozambique, Nigeria

Group D: Cameroon, Gabon, Tunisia, Zambia

The first match is on Sunday with Angola Vs Mali. A full schedule can be found on the Confederation of African Football website. Stay tuned to West Africa Discovery for updates on the West African teams’ progress in the Cup. Until Sunday check out this video made by Puma showcasing the new African team kits.

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Contact me at harry@westafricadiscovery.co.uk

Happy New Year from West Africa Discovery!

Wow, what an exciting first three months! The whole concept for West Africa Discovery has been thought of for some time, but 2009 has been a landmark year for us; the year that all the ideas and concepts have become a physical and online reality. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s never been a chore. Things don’t always run smoothly when starting up a business from scratch, especially when everything is run on a tight budget. However, over the last three months the team have surpassed obstacles, solved mind-boggling problems and have come up with some great ideas to smooth everything out to a point where we feel comfortable running a platform in a successful way for our clients and customers; where we can offer the best of the Responsible Tourism projects based in West Africa.

We have listed our first Responsible Tourism projects, created a database of information to raise awareness towards the region, created partnerships with organisations that share the same values and participated in a successful World Travel Market event. We have welcomed two ‘local experts’ to the Ghana and Nigeria countries to the team and we are ready for 2010 to pursue our mission to be the first port of call for tourists looking to visit Africa by offering them unique accommodation, tour and volunteering ideas which benefit local communities in the destination whilst respecting the natural, cultural, social and historical heritages.

On behalf of myself and the team at West Africa Discovery I wish all of you a Happy New Year for 2010, and may your current and future projects be successful.

Thomas Armitt
Founder & Operating Director

Visit www.westafricadiscovery.co.uk, and contact me on thomas@westafricadiscovery.co.uk

West Africa Christmas time... Baobab and palm wine

In the UK we usually associate Christmas with family, eating and drinking (often to excess!), giving presents, Father Christmas and a Christmas tree. But how is the tradition celebrated in West Africa, a region of the World where Christianity is at its freshest, where missionaries have only been preaching for about 150 years?

West Africa is a culturally diverse region; comprised of 16 countries, where Islam and Christianity dominate thousands of different tribes speaking hundreds of different languages. Therefore it is unsurprising that Christmas is celebrated in a multitude of different and colourful ways. West Africa is a very religious place. Belief is central to every household whether it is for Allah, Jehovah, Jesus, or the multitude of gods founds in the more animistic religions. Regardless of deity many have been taking Christmas up as an annual celebration where prayer, family, parties and merrymaking play an important role.

All over West Africa, from Senegal to Cameroon, Nigeria to Sierra Leone, parties of different sizes and significances are initiated on either the 24th or 25th December. Even in the poorer countries, an effort is made by all to carry out the tradition and join the celebrations.

According to Afrol News, Sierra Leonean celebrations include partying and ancient local traditions. Like in most countries outside Africa, pre-Christian traditions and popular costumes have been mixed with religious sermons, making the Sierra Leonean yuletide quite unique. Ancient and spectacular masquerades and masking ceremonies now play a major part in Christmas celebrations in Freetown, where the majority of people participate in the colourful party. In the cities, the police musical bands and other bands play Christmas songs in the streets during all December, and nobody escapes the yuletide feeling.

Further North, in Senegal, dominated at 95 percent by the Islamic religion, but with a minority of Christians around Dakar and Casamance in the South, the atmosphere of Christmas is still present.

I remember being in Dakar a week before Christmas, and the local petrol stations and shops had paintings of Christmas trees, Father Christmas and snow on the windows and walls. Decorations were everywhere, and people were greeting me with "Merry Christmas". Maybe the reason for this is because of the increasing presence of televisions in the wealthier households where the most popular programmes are either dubbed American or French sit-coms where Christmas is the main theme during the end of the year. I also heard that even the Islam practicing households hand out gifts on the 24th and 25th of December.

Nigeria, on the other hand, is a country where Christmas is one of, or even maybe the most important event of the year on the festivity calendar because of the high concentration of Christian practitioners.

Taiwo, our local expert for Nigeria, explains how festivities are carried out in his home country:

“Christmas is a unique festival in Nigeria unlike any other part of the world. Christmas Day is a public holiday that is celebrated mainly in the southern and eastern parts of Nigeria.

Nigerians have special traditions they employ to celebrate Christmas. Almost everyone goes to church on Christmas Day. Weeks before the day, people buy lots of hens, turkeys, goats and cows. Children hover around the beasts, taunting and staring at them.

There are feverish preparations for travel, holiday, and exchange of gifts, carolling and all manner of celebrations.

On Christmas Eve, traditional meals are prepared. In Yoruba, such meals usually include Iyan, (pounded yam) eba or amala, served with peppery stewed vegetables. People find themselves eating this same meal three to four times on that day, as they are offered it at every house they visit; and according to Yorùbá customs, it is considered rude to decline to eat when offered food. Other meals include rice served with chicken stew; some families would include a delicacy called Moin-moin; which are blended black eyed beans, mixed with vegetable oil and diced liver, prawns, chicken, fish and beef. The concoction is then wrapped in large leaves and then steamed until cooked.

Another tradition is that of decorating homes (compounds) and churches with both woven and unwoven palm fronds, Christmas trees and Christmas lights. There are the festive jubilations on the streets, the loud crackling of fireworks and luminous starry fire crackers going off, traditional masquerades on stilts parading about and children milling about displaying their best clothes, or Christmas presents.

There are no other celebrations that compare to Christmas festivities in Nigeria, where everyone can personalise their own festival, and one family’s enthusiasm merges with others; both physically and psychologically, creating a universe of fun and bonhomie.”

North West of Nigeria, in Southern Mali, tolerance and community feel dominate the festivities in Dogon country, where Islam, Christianity and African religions exist side by side in most villages. The blending of masquerades from an ancient death cult and traditional songs and dances with midnight masses and a local lamb dish inspired from biblical tales, are common place.

And these are only the tip of the iceberg. West Africa comprises so much diversity that it is impossible to pinpoint every Christmas celebration in the region, however in terms of experiencing them; there is of course the possibility to visit the countries to discover these festivities first hand.

According to a Nigerian blog, “West African rich Christmas traditions even have it in them to become a tourist attraction and should be a serious candidate for Unesco's World Heritage list.” So maybe some of the tour operators in West Africa could think about incorporating these cultural elements into some of their tours, as long as the local communities benefit economically and the destinations heritages are respected.

Visit West Africa Discovery to learn more about West Africa.

Contact me at thomas@westafricadiscovery.co.uk

How climate change is affecting West Africa

The Copenhagen talks on climate change were suspended on Tuesday due to a walk out by the African union. Tensions rose because the African delegates feel that the Kyoto Protocol is being undermined by the richest developed countries. The Kyoto Protocol gives poorer countries different goals to richer countries in terms of carbon emission reduction, allowing them a better chance to develop. The proposed ‘all on the same level’ stance risks undermining the underdeveloped countries’ development efforts in favour of the richer countries’ financial models.

This made me think, “How could West Africa be, or more to the point, how is it currently being affected by climate change?”

Unsurprisingly, as I had already done some research on the subject for a previous blog piece on deforestation, the findings were rather negative. West Africa is comprised of some of the poorest countries on the planet, and the populations living in the region will no doubt be affected on a larger scale than those of the more developed countries of the world. Not only are these predictions, but they are already a reality and can be witnessed firsthand.

The effects of climate change: Past, Present and Future

A report by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere predicts that world sea levels could rise by up to 2 metres by 2100, with worrying signs of a thaw in Antarctica. "It is now estimated that sea levels will rise between 0.5 and 1.5 meters by 2100, and in the worst case by 2.0 meters. This will affect many hundreds of millions of people living in coastal areas," they said in a report.

But on most of the coastal areas of West Africa, the signs of erosion are already too apparent to ignore. Chunks of the coast line have been crumbling away long before the Kyoto protocol was even initiated.

An article written by Ibe and Quelennac in 1989 demonstrates this: "Coastal erosion already has been reported to reach 23-30 m annually in some parts of coastal West Africa"; and coupled with the effects of pollution and environmental disregard, the damage is even greater as explained in a report by the WRI in 1990; "In Cote d'Ivoire, high erosion rates have been reported in areas off the Abidjan harbor. It also is estimated that about 40% of the mangroves in Nigeria had been lost by 1980; about 60% of mangrove areas in Senegal also have been lost as a result of mangrove clearing, coastal erosion, and increases in the salinity of water and soil."

Moving inland, the effects of climate change will, according to a recent BBC news article, increase the instances of 'megadroughts' which will affect the lives of millions of West Africans whose alimentary needs are reliant on agriculture and the yearly rainfalls during the 3-4 month rainy season. The region's most recent dry episode was the Sahel drought which claimed at least 100,000 lives, and perhaps as many as one million in the 1970s and 80s; but with the likelihood of man-made green house gasses exacerbating the length of droughts to come, the prospect of coping with a century long 'megadrought' is daunting.

From one climate change engendered extreme to another, floods have become common place in western Africa. Due to the history of droughts in the area, the soil has lost its absorbance qualities and with heavier but sparser rainfalls, communities all over West Africa have been experiencing the devastation of these natural disasters. This year alone, some 350,000 people have been affected in six countries. The United Nations reported that Burkina Faso was the worst affected, and the floods also spread to Ghana, Niger, Guinea, Senegal and Benin. But these are not recent events.

Over the years people have been suffering on a large scale. In 2007, UN aid agencies reported that severe flooding killed some 300 people and displaced 800,000.

Not only are these catastrophic events detrimental to the communities in the short-term, but it also has a more lasting effect. Livelihoods are destroyed in an instance, infrastructure is damaged beyond repair, crops and livestock are drowned and not to mention the water-borne diseases that thrive after the flood water has dissipated.

“It’s a very worrisome situation that further weakens already impoverished populations,” said Hervé Ludovic de Lys, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in West Africa. “Natural disasters have lasting consequences that will have an impact for decades to come and take us back to square one in terms of the fight against poverty.”

The OCHA has noted that climate change is driving these natural disasters, with the region possibly paying a high human cost due to global warming. In response to this situation, during the current UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, West African nations are holding frequent high-level and expert meetings on the issue.

COP15 talks to find a solution

In response to the growing emphasis that climate change and manmade green-house gas exacerbated global warming is actually playing a major role in increasing natural disaster instances in the West African region, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has seen a need for ”drafting a new legal instrument aimed at protecting people displaced by the effects of climate change and who are now outside their country of origin,” according to a declaration from an ECOWAS conference held in the Togolese capital Lome.

The declaration further calls for the ”establishment of a special fund on the impact of climate change on the affected populations” and for the concern by the Western African states over human rights issues in relation to climate change to be included ”in the formulation of a common African position during the Copenhagen talks."

The current debate

During this testing time for our planet and its inhabitants, the COP15 conference has been hailed as a big step forward towards the unity of the world’s perspective towards making a change in order to counteract the effects of man-made greenhouse gas exacerbated climate change.

However, it is the poorest and most underdeveloped countries that will be most affected by the effects of carbon emissions that the developed countries have been pumping into the atmosphere for more than a century.

Let us hope that an agreement will be made which will take into consideration all the ‘more complicated’ elements of the climate change debate and not only the financial stability of already thriving nations.

Conclusion

I wanted to end this post by a quote which reflects the issues of climate change and came across an array of very meaningful ones such as Michael Jacksons ‘Heal the World’ classic and Lenny Henry's "The global warming scenario is pretty grim. I'm not sure I like the idea of polar bears under a palm tree." quote. However, I feel that this one by Barack Obama encompasses the situation that we, as Earth's inhabitants, find ourselves in:

“The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much we're contributing to the warming of the earth's atmosphere and how much is naturally occurring, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return. And unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels and chart a new course on energy in this country, we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe.”

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The World Cup effect: West African role models, Charity and Sports Tourism

West Africa in the World Cup

The 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa next year will give African football teams a great opportunity to shine on the global stage (an estimated 715.1 million people watched the 2006 final). West Africa Discovery greeted news of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria’s qualifications with big smiles. After some friendly banter amongst the team about who we would be supporting next summer, we setup a poll to ask which team has the best chance of succeeding. My personal vote went to the Nigeria Super Eagles; it is always nice to see the underdogs succeed! The fact that half of the African teams that have qualified are West African goes to show the region’s dominance of African football.

On Friday afternoon I logged straight onto the sports news to check out the draw for the group stages. Obviously I was excited about England’s draw, but also wanted to check out who our West African teams had got. The draw for the group stages could prove to be challenging for the West African teams with Côte d'Ivoire drawing previous world cup winners, Brazil and Portugal, and the less formidable North Korea. Ghana was the only qualifying team to progress past the group stage in Germany 2006. They also have a tough draw facing Germany, Serbia and Australia. Nigeria who only just about qualified, face Argentina, Greece and South Korea. No easy draw for all teams concerned, but with a little luck who knows what could happen.

Of the six African teams, Cote d'Ivoire, with their world class striker Didier Drogba are the favourites for the competition. Didier Drogba plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League and has arguably the highest global profile amongst African players. Anyone who has watched Drogba in action will know that Côte d'Ivoire will be reliant on his strength and pace to get them through to the knockout stages.

Football and Charity

In the United Kingdom Drogba has a reputation of two halves. On one hand he is viewed as a talented player and goal scorer, but on the other he is can be viewed rather more negatively for being light footed and diving too often. Regardless of this, something that is less widely spoken about in the UK is his charity work and role model status for his native country. In 2007 he was appointed ‘Goodwill Ambassador’ by the United Nations Development Programme.

Drogba recently signed a new advertising deal with Pepsi worth £3million. He has pledged the entire amount to setting up a hospital and orphanage in Côte d'Ivoire that hopes to be up and running by the end of 2010. The hospital is part of the Didier Drogba Foundation - set up by the 31 year-old last year - and as well as being able to accommodate upwards of 200 patients the centre will be an orphanage. Unsurprisingly, this has had great support throughout the football and international community. Gestures and actions like these show the positive effect that football and sport in general can have on the communities that most need this investment.

Another footballer working towards helping West Africa is Welsh star Craig Bellamy. Craig Bellamy is infamous in the English Premier League for falling out with referees, managers and teammates, and is generally portrayed in a negative light in the UK media. However, despite his short temper and moments of misjudgement, he has invested time and money to help support West African communities. After visiting Sierra Leone in 2007 he has since setup the Craig Bellamy Foundation. The foundation runs a successful academy that not only teaches sport but seeks to give an education to disadvantaged children in Sierra Leone.

Craig Bellamy’s work sits alongside other schemes such as the Right to Dream academy in Ghana and supports the Score4Africa Living Football scheme which aims to use football to build community centres.

The international sports industry is worth billions of pounds, and by combining with foundations and charities, its key stars are taking the right steps in funnelling some of the funds into development amongst African communities. Let’s hope West Africa continues to produce stars like Drogba who, despite living the high life in European teams, continue to give back to the communities that nurtured their talents.

The World Cup and Sports Tourism

The World Cup in South Africa also looks likely to continue the growing development of sports tourism. Nigeria and the United States have a collaboration that should enable more American tourists to visit Nigeria to watch, and participate in traditional and contemporary sports, and related tourism activities in Nigeria. After hearing about Nigerian sports development I investigated further and read an article in TourismROI. The article describes the construction of impressive sounding luxurious resorts that cater for sports enthusiasts and by the sounds of things will provide jobs and stimulate economic opportunities in the area. However, will constructions on such a major scale take into consideration the environmental surroundings of the resort?

I think the best method for ‘sports tourism’ that will have a direct impact on the community is through grassroots volunteer schemes. There are more and more possibilities for sports ‘voluntourism’ that can help local communities to learn new skills. Projects such as Real Gap allow volunteers to travel to Ghana and help the local community by being a coach and mentor to local kids. If these projects take into consideration the criteria outlined in the Cape Town, Kerala and Belize declarations on Responsible Tourism; then not only will the communities benefit, but also the natural, cultural, social and historical heritages will be respected.

Just as in the UK, the African nation loves football. Hosting the World Cup for the first time can only help to develop community schemes and help the football industry. In 2010 the African nation will be dreaming of their stars holding the cup aloft. Just imagine the size of the party if an African team were to be victorious, an event that would unite the hopes and dreams of an entire continent. With these dreams, we must continue to use sport as a means to secure a better tomorrow for Africa.

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Contact me at harry@westafricadiscovery.co.uk