2024-01-11 16:40:06
The African Cup of Nations (CAN), Africa’s largest national team football tournament, will begin on January 13 with a match between Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast, host country of the 2024 edition , at the Alassane-Ouattara stadium in Abidjan. This ultra-modern stadium, also known as the Ebimpé Olympic Stadium, was inaugurated in 2020 and is among the six speakers selected for the tournament.
Its construction began in 2016 as soon as the Prime Minister at the time, Daniel Kablan Duncan, gave the first sod, surrounded by several representatives of the Chinese embassy in Côte d’Ivoire. The stadium was designed by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design and built by the Beijing Construction Engineering Group, two public entities Chinese.
The Abidjan stadium is not the only competition venue to have seen considerable involvement from China. In San Pedro (southwest of the country), the Laurent-Pokou stadium was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation ( once more, state-owned), while the China National Building Material (whose main directors close links with the Chinese Communist Party) was the general contractor of the Amadou-Gon-Coulibaly stadium in Korhogo (north).
From Costa Rica to Cameroon
China’s involvement in the CAN is not new, it is part of a long-term policy of “stadium diplomacy” which it deploys across Africa. As part of the “New Silk Roads” which aims to promote east-west trade, stadiums have often been gifted to African nations or built using subsidized loans (loans granted at interest rates below those of the market).
When Gabon co-organized (with Equatorial Guinea) the Nations Cup in 2012, for example, China participated in the construction of its two stadiums. Five years later, in 2017, Gabon hosted the tournament once more (alone this time), for which China built two more stadiums. Meanwhile, Gabonese President Ali Bongo and Chinese President Xi Jinping met to agree that the former’s country would become a global cooperation partner of the second. Today, Gabon exports approximately 15% of all its exports to Chinaof which crude oil and manganese ore constitute the largest share.
Shortly following construction of the Alassane-Ouattara stadium began, the Ivorian president of the same name visited Xi Jinping in Beijing to finalize the details of a strategic cooperative partnership. China will ultimately have invested 1.5 billion US dollars in Ivory Coast between 2018 and 2020. Today, the African nation exports 700 million dollars worth of natural resources and goods to its East Asian partner. East, seven times more than in 2016.
Chinese stadium diplomacy, which is also observed in countries ranging from Costa Rica in Latin America in Cameroon, is officially presented as bilateral and consensual. Some critics nevertheless equate this policy with neocolonialism. Certainly, African nations are getting new sports infrastructure to impress the world, foreign investment guarantees and destinations for their exports. However, questions remain regarding the economic and political costs of these exchanges and the usefulness of the stadiums once the events are over.
Saudi rivalry
For China, the advantages are obvious: this “stadium diplomacy” allows it to extend its sphere of influence in Africa, often creating asymmetric interdependencies which place African nations under the authority of the government in Beijing. At the same time, Africa has become a source of raw materials which help support China’s economic growth and give it a strategic advantage in sectors such as battery manufacturing.
African nations are now used to it; following all, the United Kingdom and France, former colonial powers, have used similar tactics before. In a way, these countries remain present; for example, the French company TotalEnergies sponsors the African Cup of Nations and remains involved in significant oil prospecting activities on the continent. But China must now reckon with a new, more substantial rival: Saudi Arabia, which is also engaging in football diplomacy.
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
The Gulf power is in full transformation and economic development. And one of its aspects is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in sport. At the heart of the Saudi government’s plans is its intention to position the country as an Afro-Eurasian hub, which has already started to have an impact on football. At one point in 2023, it looked like the kingdom would be candidate for the organization of the 2030 Football World Cup, alongside Egypt and Greece. Under the proposed deal, Saudi Arabia reportedly offered to build new stadiums in each of the partner countries.
Ultimately, Saudi Arabia decided to be the sole candidate to host the 2034 edition, although the potential involvement of African nations should not be overlooked. Indeed, for Neom, a futuristic new city megaproject in the northwest of the country, Saudi Arabia is planning a collaboration with Egypt. In addition, Visit Saudi, the kingdom’s tourism office, is committed to sponsor of the African Football Leaguewhile the Saudi Football Federation has reached an agreement with the Mauritanian Football Federation.
At the time this latest agreement was reached, the Saudi prince
Mohammed bin Salman received a written message from Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz regarding the strengthening bilateral relations and coordination.
Qatar moves closer to Rwanda
However, critics say the government in Riyadh is trying to make Africa “addicted” to oil to compensate for falling demand elsewhere in the world. Others say that, like China, the kingdom needs access to Africa’s natural resources (such as lithium, cobalt and copper) to carry out its economic reforms.
Another Gulf country, Qatar, has established a model of engagement with Africa. After winning the right to organize the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Qatar has made Rwanda a privileged partner : several football development projects have been financed by the Doha government. At the same time, the state-owned Qatar Airways made an offer for acquire significant stakes in Air Rwanda and in the new Kigali international airport.
When the first CAN match begins in Abidjan in January, the diplomatic competition off the field is likely to be just as intense as the battle on the field.
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