International
2010 World Cup
Africa Post The 2010 Football World Cup
As we approach the first anniversary since Africa joined the ranks of countries and continents to have hosted football’s most coveted sporting extravaganza – the FIFA World Cup, I would like to believe I am not alone in insisting that Africa and South Africa still have work to do to ensuring the real legacy of the tournament is experienced by future generations.
I am among those who will always look back with pride at having played a role in the delivery of the infrastructure ahead of and during the World Cup. The global branding and signage company ICON DISPLAY, whose South Africa operation I lead, was awarded the task of ensuring fans and visitors could easily navigate their way around the host cities, stadia and event sites with ease. Like others, we had to meet a specific deadline delivering the job to perfection. Collectively, the opportunity presented to big and small business, the local Government and African people by the 2010 FIFA World Cup is one we might never see again in our lifetime. As such, it begs the question how have we, and will we, leverage the massive investment by our Government into the development of stadia, transport, telecommunications, hosting, legacy, culture and much more.
Without question, our collective successes in 2010 set the tone for a new look at what is possible in Africa. But this must result in important commitments on the how value created during the World Cup can continue to be captured and circulated for generations to come. It also highlights further opportunities for Africa and South Africa to respond and trade itself out of poverty.
It is ultimately about strategically leveraging Africa’s competitive edge not only as a direct result of these trends, but also by unlocking opportunities for innovation in 21st century Africa. It is about identifying new ways of using our own natural resources such as gold, coal, cocoa and solar energy. Gold for instance can be used to drive wealth preservation by developing micro-finance schemes, a method already piloted in China and India by the World Gold Council.
Finally, Africa’s business leaders, political leaders and civil society alike, having successfully hosted the World Cup have no choice but to urgently prioritize ways to leverage the investments made in 2010. It is critical that we sustain the momentum drawing on ideas like ‘shared value’ espoused by E. Porter and R. Kramer, with policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates. Africa has the opportunity to lead the world in demonstrating and resetting the boundaries of capitalism. It can continue to showcase success, leveraging the success of the World Cup, by focusing its resources toward unearthing unique ways to serve its needs, regain credibility, efficiency, create differentiation and expand markets – and ultimately addressing fundamental issues of our eroded and distorted value system.
In Conclusion let’s respond to the call of others including US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton on her visit in 2009 that ‘Africa to trade with itself out of poverty’.
This piece was first published on the ONE Africa Blog
Back of the net for Africa United
Africa United is a new film that follows 5 children attempting to travel thousands of miles across the continent to try and reach the opening game of the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa. They set off in Rwanda where one of the children is spotted displaying his footballing talent and asked to join the opening ceremony in Johannesburg. For the next 90 minutes we are treated to an adventure film to rank alongside any Disney classic (including some great animations to go alongside the stunning scenery).
It is hugely enjoyable – a film characterised by creativity, determination and humour, rejecting the lazy clichés and stereotypes which have a habit of taking over when Africa is the setting. The heroes are Fabrice, Dudu, Beatrice, Celeste and Foreman George, all of whom are played by talented actors making their first appearances on screen.
As a bonus the makers Pathé are donating 25% of the film’s profit to UK based charity Comic Relief, which distributes funds to a huge number of projects in Africa. So in short not only an uplifting, inspiring film that is captivating audiences due to a razor-sharp script and fine acting, but also a film set to change people’s perception of Africa for the better. A must see.
ONE members join the football world and African leaders in calling for education for all
 The yellow card is presented to South African President Jacob Zuma. |
After a month of excitement on the pitch the football World Cup is now over for another 4 years. But whatever team you supported, the real winner was Africa, with the tournament shining a light on continent and helping to shift many of the negative perceptions about it.
But just as important was what happened off the pitch, with world leaders meeting in Johannesburg prior to the final to attend the World Education Summit, hosted by South African President, Jacob Zuma. The Summit brought together more than 100 delegates with heads of state from Kenya, Mozambique and Botswana, as well as FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, co-chair of 1GOAL attending.
During the summit our friends at 1GOAL presented a giant yellow card to President Zuma containing the names and messages from supporters around the world, including more than 10,000 ONE members, all calling on world leaders to provide education for 72 million children worldwide by 2015.
The leaders responded to the call, and their commitment to invest in universal education together with the call from African Heads of State to urgently prioritise investment in education are very welcome.
The summit in South Africa is an important first step but the major breakthrough needs to come at the upcoming UN Summit in September to help accelerate progress towards all the Millennium Development Goals.
Aaron Mokoena, 1GOAL ambassador and South Africa football captain said:
“President Zuma must be credited for calling this summit. 14 million football fans from around the world have signed up to this campaign and now world leaders need to make the dream of Education for All a reality. History shows that where the political will exists, great things can happen. South Africa now shares the delivery of this legacy with the rest of the world.”
And with the next World Cup taking place in Brazil in 4 years time, former Brazilian player Socrates added:
“Without an education children can be left with little more than hope to get them through life and the fact that today, in 2010, millions of children cannot go to school due to grinding poverty shames us all. We look to the Brazilian State and the next President to ensure there is a lasting legacy from this World Cup. In Brazil there are still approximately 5 million children of primary school age not attending school and approximately 14 million illiterate adults. Brazil must continue the good work that has started in South Africa and sustain this work so that by the next World Cup in Brazil, we have taken huge strides in getting every child into school.”
World Cup can be defining moment for Africa
As we enter the final stages of the greatest sporting tournament on Earth, people have begun to reflect on just how successful the first African World Cup has been.
This success is reflected in the fact that an often sceptical press pack have found only the most trivial things to complain about…such as ball bouncing too high or the fans are making too much noise!
Observers would be entitled to ask if they had missed something – Was this the same press that said the stadiums would never be ready? (They happen to be the best in the world). That advised European fans to carry body armour for fear of violent crime? That said an African country could never pull off the logistical nightmare of hosting 32 nations playing 64 matches in 9 different cities?
In short no number of vuvuzelas can hide the fact that this World Cup has thus far been a resounding success on all the issues that really matter. Superb venues, smooth logistics and a virtually crime-free environment have meant visitors to South Africa will be coming back in droves, not fuelling the Western press’s penchant for scare-mongering. A buoyant World Cup organising Chief Danny Jordaan said yesterday that “It’s wonderful that the doubters are the believers today. Our worst critics have come forward and said ‘you know what, we were wrong. This is an incredible experience for us’.” Indeed it has not just been a well organised tournament in the stadiums – the atmosphere has also been fantastic on the streets outside.
In the weeks and months ahead we will know more definitively whether this World Cup has helped to shift some of the negative perceptions about Africa as a whole. But the early signs are good. And If this positive feeling is followed by increased investment, trade and tourism then the tournament may yet become one of the defining moments of the continent’s development. In the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “I am not a football expert but I already know who is going to win the World Cup. It is the African people.”
P.S. Go Ghana Black Stars who play Uruguay later today!
Zidane and Drogba Kick Out Poverty
Known for their prowess on the pitch, football stars Zinedine Zidane and Didier Drogba have teamed up for the first time to fight extreme poverty. The United Nations Millenium Campaign has a great new video with the global football stars helping spread the word about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
We’ve seen massive progress against extreme poverty in the last decade, thanks in no small part to the MDGs. And as the MDGs are up for review in September of this year, hopefully we’ll see many more efforts like this, and you can bet your boots you’ll be hearing more from us on the MDG review…
Goal!
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The football World Cup continues in South Africa and to coincide with the tournament our friends at United Against Malaria have produced a special World Cup edition of their magazine ‘Goal!’
Every 40 seconds, a child in sub-Saharan Africa dies from a mosquito bite. Yet malaria is an entirely preventable and treatable disease with affordable solutions.
United Against Malaria is a partnership of football teams, celebrities, health and advocacy organizations, governments, corporations, and individuals who have united ahead of the World Cup to win the fight against the disease. It’s goal is to galvanize partners throughout the world to reach the United Nations target of universal access to mosquito nets and malaria medicine in Africa by the end of 2010, a crucial first step to reaching the international target of reducing deaths to near zero by 2015.
As well as lots of useful information about malaria GOAL! Also includes an interview with Kolo Toure, member of the Ivory Coast football team and UAM Champion.
Download the World Cup edition of Goal! (PDF format) and find out more about the campaign.
1:0 for Education
Last week the ONE team in Germany, together with our partners at 1GOAL, organized a soccer match to raise awareness for what we hope will be the lasting legacy, and real goal of this year’s Soccer World Cup: Education for all!
A team of artists including musician Rea Garvey and actors Axel Pape, Timmi Trinks and Timon Wloka faced a student team from Berlin’s Sophie Scholl School. During half time and after the game singer Judy Bailey performed her 1GOAL anthem “Spirit of Freedom” and other songs. As our photos show, spirits were good both on and off the field even though the students won by a little more than a margin: 17:4 was the final score!
African Football Shorts
Who’s catering for the millions of fans outside South Africa’s Ellis Park Stadium? Who’s selling football strips in Nigeria’s bustling Lagos market? How do Kenyans watch the matches in Kibera, one of Nairobi’s notorious slums? Why can’t women compete, or referee, in the tournament? And are you ever too old to play the beautiful game?
These are just some of the questions that the Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) have asked, interviewing a range of extraordinary people across Africa to see how football impacts the lives of people across the continent.
They include Mafarana Gogos, a team of footballing grannies of a remote village in the backwoods of Nkowankowa in Limpopo Province in South Africa:
Check out this and the other African Football Shorts on the TVE YouTube channel
Scoring for Africa
Former UN Secretary-General and Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, Kofi Annan, and Côte d’Ivoire football star Didier Drogba came together this week to publish Scoring for Africa – An Alternative Guide to the World Cup.
The report compares the key statistics of the African countries taking part in the tournament against their competitors in terms of development – examining key indicators such as economic growth, access to education and human development.
Although African nations have a fair playing field when it comes to football; this is not the case when it comes to issues such as trade or the fight against climate change. The report shows that:
- The average life expectancy in Nigeria is 48 years, compared to 75 years in Argentina.
- Women in Côte d’Ivoire are 8 times more likely to die as a result of child birth than their Brazilian counterparts.
- In South Africa 44.5% of parliamentarians (in the lower or single house) are women, compared to 18.9% in France.
In the foreword to the report, Annan and Drogba state:
“We passionately believe that fair play should not be limited to the way countries play, run and score against each other, but also the way they do business and politics with each other; that the spirit of the World Cup should extend into countries’ economic and political relations; and that the celebration of our common humanity should not be limited to one month every four years.”
Both men hope that as well as celebrating the World Cup, ‘Scoring for Africa’ makes football fans around the world more aware of another side to the tournament, and ensures that the outpouring of interest in Africa around the games is channelled towards a fairer world over the long term.
Africa Rising
On the opening day of the football World Cup, host nation South Africa played Mexico in the first match (it was a great game with the final result being 1 -1). To mark the start of the tournament the Independent newspaper in the UK has a brilliant front cover today with the headline ‘Africa Rising’. The main article, written by Paul Vallely who co-authored the Commission for Africa’s report in 2005, is full of positive stats showing that it’s not all doom and gloom for the continent. I’ve pulled out a few facts that stood out for me:
- Over the past few years economic growth in Africa has surged to more than double of that in the developed world – that’s an average of 6% between 2003 and 2008.
- Where in 2002 only 50,000 Africans at the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic could get antiretrovirals, today 3.7 million people are on them without payment.
- According to the Financial Times, 500 African companies have been growing at more than 8% a year for over a decade.
Have a read for yourself as you watch the matches that are gripping people across the world (and certainly in the ONE office).
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About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
TAGS: 2010 World Cup, Africa, South Africa