Correspondent in Abidjan – Less than a month before the start of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations which will take place from January 13 to February 11 in Ivory Coast, it is the final sprint for the organizers. Sports and tourism infrastructure: will the country be ready in time? The authorities assure us that yes.
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Forty years after the first edition of the CAN organized by the country, where only eight teams participated in two stadiums, the authorities saw things big. Their two stadiums have been completely renovated and four more have been built since. Asked about the progress of the work at Ebimpé – the largest stadium in Abidjan which can accommodate up to 60,000 supporters – the Minister of Tourism, Siandou Fofana, assured him: “The renovation work is completely completed, the stadium is magnificent and ready to receive the teams.”
Cursed lawn at the Ebimpé stadium
This stadium, however, caused a lot of trouble for the Ivorian authorities. Built by the Chinese company Beijing Construction Engineering Group and inaugurated in October 2020, the enclosure is to be closed only a year later. In question: the lawn, which poses a risk of injury for the players. An additional 20 billion CFA francs, or 30 million euros, is allocated for work. Its total cost thus amounts to nearly 250 million euros, making it one of the most expensive stadiums in the world. But that does not prevent the pitch from posing another problem in September 2023: while the stadium is hosting the Ivory Coast – Mali friendly match, it is completely flooded following heavy rain, leading to the interruption of the meeting.
“This incident can be considered a blessing because it allowed us to strengthen our systems and increase our precautions” says Cocan today, which says it is “confident” about the quality of the installations.
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Accommodation
Another subject of concern for the organizers: the question of accommodation. The four state-owned hotels have all been given a makeover for the competition. For the sole renovation of the legendary Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, which will host the CAF HQ during the competition, the State spent 68 million euros. The fact remains that sufficient quality infrastructure to accommodate the national selections and CAF officials was not abundant in the country.
According to a source at Cocan: “The major challenge was to find establishments that meet these requirements” particularly in cities in the interior of the country. CAN cities were built to accommodate the teams, but some refused to be accommodated there. This is particularly the case of the Moroccan team in San Pedro or Algeria in Bouaké.
The Minister of Tourism admits it, while charging the previous Minister of Sports Paulin Danho – since dismissed: “The embellishment was not sufficient when they were presented to the teams.” Since then, new work has been carried out. Before putting things into perspective: according to him, the real reason which pushes certain teams to refuse this accommodation is the fact that four national teams are housed in the same place, which “certainly poses confidentiality problems for them when preparing for matches” .
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Only 1,000 beds available in Bouaké
Beyond the question of accommodation for officials, there is also that of supporters. In Bouaké in particular, where the Peace Stadium can accommodate 40,000 people, there are only 1,000 hotel beds available. “The city suffered from the horrors of war” recalls the minister to explain this situation. “One solution would be to sleep in Yamoussoukro, just 2 hours away, where the offer is greater” he suggests. With this in mind, Cocan intends to set up “temporary passage areas” with toilets.
In San Pedro, where the hotel offer also seems insufficient, particularly given the fact that the city will host the Moroccan selection which is among the favorites of the competition, a boat will be moored at the quay to accommodate the supporters.
Fanzones
Welcoming supporters from the four corners of the continent also means offering enough fan zones. Six are planned across all host cities, including two in Abidjan. To date, the contracts with the partners who manage them have not yet all been signed, confirms the Cocan fanzone manager, Stéphane Docklo, without giving any explanation as to the reasons. The reason, according to a source close to the matter: the fact that Cocan is in the red budgetarily. The Prime Minister would like to carry out audits to renegotiate certain amounts allocated to the fanzones.
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Fan villages
Cocan also intends to authorize the creation of Akwaba Villages, a place for broadcasting matches and gathering supporters. In Abidjan, some of the largest villages in terms of reception capacity have not yet received approval. This is the case of those planned by the singer of Magic System, A’Salfo, in several communes of Abidjan or the Agora, these sports and cultural centers managed by the company WinWin Afrique. “We had more than 300 requests, and we started granting approvals last week. Around twenty sites have so far been approved, and this will continue in the coming weeks,” explains Stéphane Docklo. To be approved, these fan villages must meet current security standards and marketing requirements.
Some sites which are to serve as Akwaba villages are still under construction. This is particularly the case of the Agora of Port-Bouet. “It was a desert of sand when the companies arrived to work in July. It’s a rush, we work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to be able to deliver before the CAN” explains a source who works on this site.
A delay which is partly explained, according to this same source, by the difficulties encountered by the Ivorian authorities in honoring their part of the contract. The French company Alamo, which manages this project, had negotiated with the Ministry of Commerce that all materials imported from abroad to carry out this work would be exempt from customs tax and VAT. But when construction begins, this exemption is not effective. It was after several weeks that the Ministry of Commerce finally issued exceptional exemptions.
“For the material coming from abroad this represented an additional cost of 20% for the companies which subcontract the construction of the site. This material, stuck at the port, arrived late. And it must be said that this also demotivated some people to work quickly.” The project should nevertheless be finalized on time. Because here, as in the four corners of the country, all the players – both private and public – are now working to beat the countdown before the start of the competition.