Defending champions Ivory Coast, along with Egypt and Algeria, secured their second victories in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Tuesday, solidifying their positions for the 2025 finals. However, Cameroon and Nigeria stumbled in a day of intense matches across the continent.
The Ivory Coast, defending champions of the Africa Cup of Nations, kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Zambia. Morocco, the host nation for the 2025 tournament, also secured a dominant 4-1 victory against Gabon. Other former champions, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo, also began their journey with wins, while Senegal salvaged a draw against Burkina Faso. The qualifying matches continue across the continent, with 48 teams battling for a place in the 2025 finals.
Sol Bamba, a former Ivory Coast defender who played for clubs like Cardiff City, Leeds United, and Leicester City, has passed away at the age of 39. Bamba, who served as technical director for Turkish club Adanaspor, had been battling illness before his death. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2021 but was declared cancer-free after treatment. Bamba’s passing has been met with an outpouring of grief from clubs and fans.
Ivory Coast has become the first nation to implement a groundbreaking malaria vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India and the University of Oxford. This marks a significant step in combating a disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives annually, particularly in Africa. The vaccine, recommended by the WHO, offers substantial protection against malaria, a disease that has long plagued the continent. The deployment represents a beacon of hope for millions of children across Africa.
The swollen shoot cacao tree virus is posing a significant threat to the global supply of chocolate, as it is rapidly spreading and destroying cocoa trees in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which account for around 50% of the world’s cocoa harvest. The virus is making cacao trees unhealthy and affecting the dried seeds from which chocolate is made. Despite efforts to control the virus using pesticides and tree vaccines, the problem has persisted, and Ghana has lost over 254 million cacao trees in recent years.
