Forty years after doing so for the first time, Ivory Coast is currently hosting a men's African Cup of Nations (CAN).
On the pitch, the host team is fighting to remain in the table and win the third continental title in its history.
Off the field, the country is looking for another triumph: to show itself to the rest of Africa and the world as the solvent organizer of an event in whose final economic balance it is not known whether it will win or lose.
“In the short term it has a positive effect,” says Roméo Boye, PhD in Economics and researcher at the Ivorian Center for Economic and Social Research, on the other end of the phone.
The expectation, the festive atmosphere and the arrival of foreign visitors are a boost for hotels, restaurants, bars and souvenir sales
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for that part of the economy that is seen on the streets during the month—from January 13 to February 11 — how long the competition lasts.
“And this will have a positive impact on our GDP this year,” says Boye, who also mentions the inflow of foreign currency as good news for the central bank.
According to data from the World Bank, the gross domestic product of the country, the largest economy in the region and the world's leading producer of cocoa and cashew nuts, is around 70 billion dollars (about 64 billion euros).
On the front line, in the ranks of the 10,000 volunteers who participate in the organization, Arsène Ehui, a doctoral student, assures that, “economically, this event is shaking things up.”
“The CAN has given birth to new businesses such as bars, restaurants, maquis —small popular open-air canteens, typical of the country—, hotels and spaces dedicated especially to the CAN,” he emphasizes.
Although in certain cases, he clarifies, they are temporary.
“When the CAN ends I will have to look for another job,” acknowledges Kone Kadiatou, a 27-year-old boy from Yamoussoukro, the political capital of the Ivory Coast, while collecting papers and bottles after a match between Burkina Faso and Angola in the Charles Konan Banny Stadium.
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Just as some businesses have proliferated under the spotlight of the Africa Cup, others have perished in its shadow.
Before the ball got rolling, the authorities closed street stalls citing, for example, health and safety reasons.
“They have ruined the subsistence economy of a good part of the small merchants,” says Jean Arsène Yao, historian, journalist and professor in the Spanish department at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, in Abidjan.
Informal settlements have also been affected.
“The media have already commented on this issue and have decided to leave it behind a little, deal with it later,” comments Julien Adhepeau, professor of Advertising Communication at the same university.
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A distributed competition
The first time Ivory Coast hosted this competition, in 1984, there were two venues.
On this occasion, five have been chosen: Abidjan, which has enormous weight in the country's economic activity, Yamoussoukro, the capital, San Pedro, Korhogo and Bouaké.
This geographical dispersion, which distributes attention and spending, can contribute to the development of cities, also due to the improvements in infrastructure that it brings.
It is precisely this aspect that led economist Andrew Zimbalist to point out in a publication in 2010 that mega sporting events can leave a deeper mark on developing countries, by serving as a catalyst for these works.
“The impact on infrastructure construction is very important,” says Adhepeau.
“There were many problems with movement within the country.
Nowadays, you can go from Abidjan to Korhogo – from south to north – in a very short time,” he adds.
Although, Yao points out, before organizing the event, the country's development plans already spoke of improvements of this type.
The Government has invested in the construction and improvement of bridges, airports, 24 training centers and residences for the delegations.
It has also allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to four new stadiums and the refurbishment of two existing ones.
In addition to roads, the Government has invested in the construction and improvement of bridges, airports, 24 training centers and “CAN cities” with residences for the delegations.
It has also allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to four new stadiums and the refurbishment of two existing ones.
In total, last August the bill amounted to 1,000 million dollars (about 920 million euros), according to what the then Minister of Sports Paulin Danho, who was dismissed shortly after along with the Prime Minister after the flooding of the new stadium in Abidjan, told Africa24.
Some media already point to more than 1.6 billion (1.5 billion euros).
And given these figures, the question is whether the country will pay off.
“I believe that different economic impacts must be measured,” says Juan Carlos Martínez Lázaro, professor of Economics at IE University.
On the one hand, the balance of the income statement, with costs and income (entries, subsidies, sponsorships, emission rights...), figures that “tend to be in deficit,” he says.
On the other hand, the non-tangible benefits in the medium or long term of capitalizing on a successful organization.
“If it is able to sell the image that it is an efficient, safe country that can receive tourism... or, in a second stage, that it could even receive investments,” Martínez Lázaro clarifies.
A 2016 analysis by the Harvard Kennedy School, based on competitions such as the World Cup or the Olympic Games, indicates that – in general but with exceptions – although these events can impact tourism, this influence is usually ephemeral, less than expected and dependent on other factors.
But also, that the real benefits usually exceed the costs.
An analysis by Harvard University indicates that, although these events can impact tourism, this influence is usually ephemeral and less than expected.
Also that the real benefits usually exceed the costs
The long-term impact, for now an unknown for Professor Boye, will depend, in his opinion, on the ability to keep the infrastructure alive, to prevent it from joining the list of white elephants, as the large constructions that end up being practically unused.
“The issue here is to generate resources to be able to take care of these stadiums and infrastructure,” he says.
The president of the Ivorian Football Federation, Idriss Diallo, stated that the intention is to make the country, which hosted the CAF Women's Champions League in 2023, a football operations center for the region.
The problem is that, today, it does not have a strong national competition.
“The level is very low.
So I'm not sure that people are going to go see a match in Yamoussoukro or San Pedro, for example,” says Boye, who conditions the long-term success of the event also on strengthening the sector.
Yao shares that vision.
“When February 11 is over, what use are all those stadiums going to be?”
Another thing, he says, is the impact it can have on sectors such as hospitality.
Even so, he does not believe that the accounts are going to come out green: "The country has gone into debt and we do not know how we are going to be able to recover, repay the money borrowed."
Ivory Coast arrived at this Africa Cup after two internal conflicts in the first two decades of the millennium and a political storm four years ago
Others, including the Government, see these infrastructures as an engine of development for national sports.
Ehui, a doctoral student and volunteer for the organization, also believes that better facilities will give a boost to the domestic championship.
Daghau Komenan, a historian specialized in International Relations, does not see it so clearly.
“To turn Ivory Coast into a football power, they have to, first, pay the players better.
Truly professionalize the sector, clean it of corruption and strengthen local teams so that the country has a quality championship that attracts African talents,” he asserts.
“We have more stadiums and I think there will be businesses inside.
More job offers will be created and I think it will be positive,” says Adhepeau, professor in advertising communication.
Political benefit
Ivory Coast arrived at this Africa Cup after two internal conflicts in the first two decades of the millennium and a political storm four years ago.
The first civil war lasted five years, from 2002 to 2007;
The second race arose after an election at the end of 2010 and lasted almost until the following summer.
From that last conflict, Alassane Ouattara emerged as president and, after having been in office for two terms, the maximum allowed by the Constitution, he decided to run for a third in 2020, which sparked protests and altercations in the country.
“In my opinion, what the Government wanted through this Cup is to give an image of a reconciled country,” says historian Yao.
What the Government has wanted through this Cup is to give an image of a reconciled country
The president of the organizing committee himself, Francois Amichia, pointed to reasons beyond economic ones last December, according to the BBC.
“When Ivory Coast decided to organize this Nations Cup, it was not to make money, but to reposition itself,” he said.
“The expenses in the CAN, I don't think there is a financial gain that can cover them,” says Komenan.
“I think that more than promoting the economy, it is about presenting yourself, giving a friendly face to the world or to Africa,” he explains.
And not only outside.
These types of competitions are generally capable of creating a feeling of togetherness, of common direction, even if it is temporary.
“On a political level it is something important,” reflects Adhepeau.
“It allows us to create, let's say, a unity behind this team.”
For Komenan, the issue goes a little further and he believes that the Government has its sights set on next year's elections.
Ivory Coast, he says, has always enjoyed power status in, at least, West Africa.
“And people yearn a little for that status,” he explains.
“And the current Government is trying, at least cosmetically, to give this impression.
I think that is what they are going to capitalize with.”
Meanwhile, at the Charles Konan Banny stadium, relations between the countries of the continent follow another course.
The Burkinabé public left minutes before the end of the match, angry with their team after losing against Angola.
Bernard Suka, member of the Angolan Federation, has traveled from Luanda.
“I love meeting people from other countries,” he says, as he greets a group of Burkinabes who congratulate him on the victory.
The stadium looks new and shiny.
Even the chairs in the press room still have the plastic wrapping.
In the stadium, the Burkinabe are the majority.
Ivory Coast is the main destination for its migrants, and both countries share the Dioula language, but their border is under terrorist control.
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