As Africa’s top football spectacle begins, continental attention turns to Ivory Coast for whom AFCON means much more. In addition to a new shiny $260m, 60,000 capacity stadium on the outskirts of Abidjan named after Ouattara, several stadiums have been built or upgraded across four other cities: the capital Yamoussoukro, Korhogo to the north, the central hub of Bouake and dreamy coastal San Pedro near the Liberian border. Fans are taking advantage of freedom of movement within the bloc to pour into the country to support their teams. But the world’s largest cocoa producer spending an eye-popping $1bn to host Africa’s biggest sporting event when almost half of its 25 million people live on $1.2 or less a day, has led to criticism for the Ouattara administration’s priorities.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA