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Every few years, Africa pauses to celebrate one of its most anticipated events: the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). More than just a football tournament, AFCON is about unity, pride, and raw emotion for millions across the continent and diaspora with national colours dominating the streets and old rivalries taking centre stage far beyond the pitch.
The beauty of AFCON lies in its unpredictability, the tournament’s history of producing underdog stories challenging African football giants ever-present. Nations with smaller budgets and fewer global stars often rise against all odds, reminding everyone that talent and passion can indeed defy circumstance on a stage where unknown players transform into legends and familiar names carry the hopes of entire countries.
Maxx Sas 3thisGUYshoots 7
For many Africans, AFCON isn’t just about the sport itself but also a form of identity. The tournament revives conversations about national pride, regional competition, and what it means to represent Africa on a global level. In a world where African footballers often build their careers abroad, AFCON brings them home: giving fans the chance to see their heroes play on African soil and under African skies with the same fire they show in Europe’s top leagues.
Beyond the matches themselves, vibrant cultural exchange accompanies AFCON. From the music and chants in the stadiums to colourful fan attire and traditional dances, every tournament puts Africa’s diverse energy on full display. Vendors outside stadiums sell food filled with local flavour (e.g., roasted corn, suya, and grilled fish), for example, making the games feel like one big neighbourhood celebration.
Adera Abdoulaye Dolo 1
Looking ahead, the next AFCON holds the promise of an even more electric experience. New infrastructure, better broadcasting, and digital engagement mean more fans can connect in real time from anywhere in the world. Yet, the spirit remains the same: a mix of competition and community and reclaiming Africa’s narrative in sports, showing the continent’s passion for football isn’t just a pastime but a shared heartbeat.
In many ways, AFCON represents what Africa does best: turning challenges into celebration, competition into connection, and sport into something deeply personal. When the opening whistle blows, the continent won’t just be watching but living every goal, every victory, and every heartbreak together.
The Beautiful Game with an Ugly Truth: Football, Colonial Economies, and the Exploitation of African Youth
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4 min read
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Taofeek Adeshina
Football is often described as the world’s game: a language spoken across borders, classes, and cultures if you will. For many young Africans, it represents not only joy but also the promise of escape – a potential ticket out of poverty, pathway to global recognition, or even a way to uplift entire families. Beneath the glamour of international tournaments and multimillion-pound transfers, though, lies a reality that is far less romantic. For all its sparkle and spectacle, football has traditionally functioned as an extension of colonial economies where humans are trafficked and talent, resources, and labour are extracted from Africa with little offered in return.
Taofeek Adeshina
Parallels to the colonial era are striking. Just as European powers once exploited African land and bodies for profit, modern football empires gain immense wealth at the expense of African youth – specifically their dreams and sacrifices. Talent pipelines are built across the continent, scouting children as young as 12 and promising them a future in European leagues. For every one who succeeds, however, countless others are discarded: stripped of their childhoods, often indebted to agents, and left with little education or support to rebuild their lives. Football’s empire thrives on this imbalance, exporting raw talent while importing little more than broken promises.
To fully understand this dynamic, one must consider the broader history of global sport. Football didn’t simply arrive in Africa as a neutral pastime but was introduced under colonial rule, often as a tool of discipline and control. British administrators, for example, encouraged the game in schools and mission stations while framing it as a civilising activity. What began as a colonial instrument, however, was quickly reclaimed by African communities who infused it with their own creativity and passion. In the post-independence era, football became a symbol of national pride and resistance as a way to assert identity on a global stage. Yet even as African nations found liberation, the economic structures of football remained tied to Europe.
Taofeek AdeshinaTaofeek Adeshina
Today, the global football economy mirrors the extraction model of colonial trade. African academies, many underfunded and poorly regulated, function like mines while identifying and refining raw talent for export. European clubs, meanwhile, invest relatively little in grassroots development across the continent yet reap extraordinary profits from African players following their integration into the global market. A handful of stars such as Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, Sadio Mané became icons, their success stories circulated as proof of opportunity. Yet these same narratives obscure the reality of thousands of boys who never make it, their football dreams quietly discarded after they fail to meet the football empire’s impossible standards.
Such exploitation involves emotions as much as economics. Families often pool resources to send their children to academies or trials, persuaded by promises of contracts abroad with agents – some legitimate, many predatory – who profit from this desperation and charge fees for chances that rarely materialise. Those who do secure contracts often face cultural isolation, racism, and pressure to perform beyond their limits: their value to the system purely transactional, injury or underperformance leading to their swift replacement by another hopeful from the endless pipeline.
Such exploitation involves emotions as much as economics. Families often pool resources to send their children to academies or trials, persuaded by promises of contracts abroad with agents – some legitimate, many predatory – who profit from this desperation and charge fees for chances that rarely materialise. Those who do secure contracts often face cultural isolation, racism, and pressure to perform beyond their limits: their value to the system purely transactional, injury or underperformance leading to their swift replacement by another hopeful from the endless pipeline.
Taofeek AdeshinaTaofeek Adeshina
The challenge, then, is to imagine a football economy that serves African youth rather than exploiting them. This requires investment in local infrastructure – leagues, training facilities, and educational support – so young players aren’t forced to gamble everything in the hope of exportation to Europe. It also calls for agent and academy regulation to ensure families aren’t swindled and children aren’t treated as commodities. Most importantly, it requires a shift in the narrative: celebrating not just the African stars abroad but the local heroes who do their part to build football culture back at home.
Football has always been more than a game, after all, as a mirror of society reflecting both our aspirations and inequalities. For Africa specifically, it’s a source of immense pride and joy but also a reminder of how global systems continue to extract from the continent. To honour the beauty of the game, we must confront the ugliness of its empire or otherwise risk a continued cycle of exploitation as the dreams of countless African youth remain the raw material for someone else’s profit.
More Than a Meal: How Zoe Sarabo’s Pan African Food Festival Reclaims Heritage and Reunites the Diaspora
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7 min read
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Courtesy of Pan African Food Festival
Courtesy of Pan African Food FestivalCourtesy of Pan African Food Festival
Across continents and oceans and over centuries of displacement and resilience, food has remained one of the most resilient threads connecting African people to their descendants. From jollof to jerk and gumbo to gari, our flavours carry the essence of migration, adaptation, and memory. Food isn’t just nourishment for Sarabo Cultural Events founder and Pan African Food Festival creator Zoe Sarabo, though, but an act of reclamation, a language of belonging, and a bridge between Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. As she says:
“African Food is one element of a community’s cultural identity that serves to define connection, history, custom, and tradition. The process of food preparation, serving, and communal eating plays an integral part of African societies, and without a true appreciation of the food and what it means then we lose a major aspect of African heritage and cultural practice.”
Born in Georgetown, Guyana and now based in Phoenix, Arizona, Sarabo embodies the layered complexity of diasporic identity. Her upbringing in the West Indian tradition – and deep understanding of her African ancestry – shaped her vision of a world where food is not only a taste of home but a map of connection.
“Being born in the West Indian culture as a descendant of enslaved Africans gives me the vantage point to recognise the resilience of diasporic communities and how they were able to maintain traditional practices of our African foreparents,” she explains. “Learning about African cuisines helps me to recognise in what form and what parts of the diaspora they can be found. It tells the story of continuation and legacy that have been sustained over time far from its original home.”
The birth of a movement
Sarabo’s journey culminating in the Pan African Food Festival began long before its first edition. As a self-identified pan-Africanist, she was motivated by a calling to carve out spaces for reconnection so descendants of Africa could see themselves reflected not in trauma but instead creativity, excellence, and shared joy.
“My purpose is to create spaces and opportunities for Black communities of the African diaspora who come from a lineage of enslaved foreparents to reconnect and reclaim that cultural heritage they were violently stripped of,” she says. “My interest in culture and identity started in college as an African and African-American Studies major. I was blessed to have professors who were beautiful representations of what it means to be African from the continent or the diaspora.”
Following those early college years at Arizona State University, her curiosity evolved into expression – first through fashion and then events. After traveling to Ghana and connecting with local tailors, Sarabo launched her own African-inspired clothing line and began organising fashion events celebrating pan-African aesthetics: her 2019 collaboration on a major African cultural festival in Arizona ultimately laying the foundation for the Pan African Food Festival, her signature creation reflecting a vibrant showcase of cuisine, music, art, and tradition from across the African world.
“Everything I’ve done led me to having a Pan African Food Festival as the next obvious step,” she reflects. “The inspiration came when I was hired to be the host of a pan-African themed restaurant that had opened at the time. I wanted an event that elevated the richness of our cuisines and celebrated the people leading Arizona’s growing food culture.”
When asked to describe African food in a single word, Sarabo doesn’t hesitate: tradition.
“Tradition embodies culture, community, and meaning,” she says. “African people are intentional with everything that is created, and every spice, dish, and flavour connect to a people, a community, and a story – all of which become the tradition and practice of that place.”
For those in the diaspora, that tradition is a compass pointing back to a place they may never have seen but still feel deeply.
“Tradition is important for someone who does not have direct lineage to the continent because it reinforces ties to an unknown cultural heritage. Every meal that is common in the African Diasporan communities with African roots helps us to strengthen our connection and serves as a discovery of an unknown identity.”
Identity, reconnection, and decolonisation
Sarabo’s own story mirrors the path of many in the diaspora: a journey of rediscovery and reclamation. Moving from Guyana to the U.S. showed her just how deeply African identity is sown into the fabric of Caribbean culture, even when unspoken.
“I took for granted the extent to which elements of African identity, culture, and values were embedded within the larger West Indian culture,” she admits. “It wasn’t until I moved to Arizona and was removed from the familiarity of culture that I was able to identify the African parts of the Guyanese and, by extension, West Indian culture.”
This same awakening drove the creation of Sarabo Cultural Events, an organisation designed to help others of African descent identify, strengthen, and celebrate the cultural threads connecting them.
“It became a passion of mine to help others identify culture that has been retained while also strengthening those ties with intention,” she says. “The journey to reconnect and reclaim looks different for everyone, but I happened to start with fashion, food, and spirituality. In my book Becoming Authentically African, I call it a process of detoxing or decolonisation – removing and reclaiming.”
Where taste meets texture, colour, and sound
At the Pan African Food Festival, food is only one part of a multisensory experience. Fashion, music, and art converge to create a holistic representation of African identity, one honouring tradition while celebrating innovation.
“While it is a food festival that celebrates diverse cuisines from across the continent, Caribbean, and Southern United States, other elements of culture such as fashion and creative arts are incorporated,” Sarabo explains. “We were intentional with the range of performances selected, ensuring true pan-African representation and that everyone who attended felt recognised.”
Attendees are encouraged to dress in African-inspired clothing, and one of the festival’s most captivating features is the Chief Series Project that invites Black men to experience the regal essence of what it feels like to wear authentic Kente wraps.
“This activity allows Black men to feel power and royal essence when wearing the Chief Wrap,” Sarabo says, smiling. “It’s one of those moments where fashion becomes more than clothing; it becomes a ceremony.”
For Sarabo, the Pan African Food Festival is more than an event as a movement aiming to redefine how African heritage is represented: not as fragmented cultures nor postcolonial remnants but instead a continuum of brilliance.
“Yes, I most certainly do see the Pan African Food Festival as part of a broader movement,” she affirms. “It’s the first step towards elevating African cuisine, creating a culture around food that has African origins while promoting the people who are passionate about the art of cooking and the work they are doing.”
Her vision is expansive and inclusive: a future where food serves as a powerful means for unity and living dialogue between Africa and its far-flung descendants.
“My vision is for food to be used as one avenue towards strengthening ties between the African Diasporic community and continental Africans, creating a food culture that represents the fusion of our stories and experiences.”
A taste of home
When all is said and done, that story always returns to the plate for Sarabo – to the comfort of a meal reminding her of home, family, and heritage.
“I like to say I am a rice eater,” she laughs. “My ideal meal would be the Guyanese version of peas and rice, which we call ‘cook-up’ rice with oxtail. Rice and peas – or beans and rice in some islands – is common across the diaspora. Guyanese cook-up rice is made with coconut milk and spices rather than water. Oxtail, on the other hand, is my favourite meat. When it’s done right, I can consume it every day.”
In Zoe Sarabo’s world, food is more than sustenance; it’s survival, storytelling, and soul. Her Pan African Food Festival is a reminder of what happens when African, Caribbean, and American ancestries gather around one table to ultimately rediscover a shared heartbeat.
Because while history has scattered us, tradition – delicious, defiant, and divine – keeps calling us back home.
A joyful senior couple enjoys a heartwarming stroll along the beach. Their smiles reflect deep happiness and lifelong partnership.
Many of us struggle to understand what love actually looks like. Not just the familiar love we feel for our friends, parents, or children but the kind that feels safe, reciprocal, and grounding and doesn’t demand self-abandonment.
In All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks (Gloria Jean Watkins) wrote, “To return to love, to get the love we always wanted but never had, to have the love we want but are not prepared to give, we seek romantic relationships. We believe these relationships, more than any other, will rescue and redeem us. True love does have the power to redeem but only if we are ready for redemption. Love saves us only if we want to be saved.”
Siphosethu Fanti via AdobeStock.
That longing – to be saved, seen, and held – has taken over our timelines. We’re flooded with “Black Love” aesthetics online, curated images and stories that feel aspirational, beautiful, and affirming. While these narratives have indeed helped counter harmful tropes about Black and African people being unlovable or undesired, there’s another side. Love content is now a brand: easily packaged, easily consumed. It suggests there’s only one way to love, one version of what a relationship should look like.
Here are a few films that explore exactly that: how love shows up, teaches us, and transforms us when we choose it for real, with a single-word descriptor capturing one core meaning of love itself.
The truth is, love isn’t one-size-fits-all, and we too often expect Black women to endure pain in silence as Black men constantly perform strength and provision. We carry unrealistic standards for each other and for ourselves. If we want love to redeem us – as bell hooks said – it starts with us. We must unlearn, relearn, and become people who can show up fully and honestly in love: both for ourselves and others.
The Court as a Continent: Basketball and African Unity in the Season of BAL
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3 min read
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When the orange ball hits the polished hardwood and echoes across arenas from Dakar to Cairo, it’s not just sport; it is sound and signal. The fifth season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) has begun, Africa once again stretching its limbs across geography and imagination in the process. With twelve clubs spanning the continent – coast to coast, desert to delta – the league is more than a tournament. It’s a mirror held up to the future of African unity.
In the spirit of Kwame Nkrumah and Amílcar Cabral, who dreamt not only of liberation but of cooperation, BAL emerges as a quiet revolution. It brings together players from Egypt to Senegal, fans from Angola to Kenya. We watch not only for the game, but for the vision it offers: a continent in conversation with itself, across languages and landscapes.
Zach Wear via UnsplashYusuf Yassir via unsplash
Each team carries a nation’s pride, yes, but they also carry each other. It’s not uncommon to see a Cape Verdean guard throwing an alley-oop to a Libyan forward, coached by a veteran from Mali, and cheered on by a crowd in Tunisia. Beyond just basketball, it’s what Cabral called praxis – ideas made flesh. Movement. Collaboration. Brotherhood.
Let us not romanticise too quickly, however. Unity does not come easy, and the game reveals this as well. Infrastructure gaps, unequal investment, and political instability in some host countries are realities we cannot bounce past. It’s not a matter of whether the sport can solve Africa’s problems but instead spotlight the shared responsibility of doing so.
Finnian Hadiep via unsplash
What BAL has done well – perhaps better than any other continental initiative in recent memory – is to reframe the African narrative on its own terms. These aren’t leftover leagues or hand-me-downs from the West. BAL is rooted in African soil (though yes, it does partner with the NBA) and shows us that partnerships need not mean dependence. Excellence, likewise, can emerge from within.
And the youth – oh, the youth. I see them on the streets of Bissau, dribbling worn-out balls on sandy courts and wearing not only LeBron or Durant jerseys but those of Petro de Luanda or US Monastir. Their dreams are recalibrating. The path to success no longer necessarily leads out of Africa; it may begin, and even end, right here.
As the season marches toward its conclusion in June, we must hold on to the lessons the league teaches us. That unity is built, not declared. That the body, in motion and sweat, can tell stories words cannot. That the court can be a classroom.
In a world that too often sees Africa in fragments – tribes, regions, crises – BAL offers a different picture: one of movement, rhythm, strategy, and solidarity. When the buzzer sounds in Kigali to close out the season, may we carry the sound with us – not as an end but an invitation to spread it wider than ever before.
Ghana’s tourism sector and local communities in Accra and Busua are thriving. At the centre of this transformation stands Sandy Alibo, a visionary community builder whose projects, Surf Ghana and Skate Gal Club, are not just sports initiatives but platforms for African youth to reclaim their story, challenge perceptions and realise a borderless, inclusive and self-determined future.
Defining a path in youth sports
The absence of visibility for African surfers was a glaring gap that Sandy wanted to address.
However, her mission transcended mere representation; it was about ensuring that the local community had ownership over their stories. “Who are they, what do they want and where do they want to go?” she says, emphasising the importance of African youth defining their paths.
Through these projects, she has broken barriers in action sports, particularly in a continent where access to equipment remains one of the biggest challenges.
Skateboarding became an entry point for this cultural shift. Unlike surfing, which remains an elite sport due to the high cost of equipment – a surfboard can start at US$600 compared to a skateboard at US$60.
Skateboarding offers a more accessible alternative. It provides not only a form of self-expression but a means of community building.
Surfers and skateboarders share a deep connection, bound by their passion for their boards and drive for freedom. This synergy has allowed Sandy to shape a project that bridges urban and rural spaces, drawing on diverse backgrounds and fostering local connections.
Skate Gal Club
In this movement, women hold a pivotal space. The creation of Skate Gal Club was a step toward gender equality in the sports and creative industries.
Sandy reflects, “When I launched it, there weren’t many organisations dedicated to women.”
The collective has since become a hub where women in Ghana can explore their artistic and athletic identities. It has spawned a network of creatives – DJs, writers, entrepreneurs and fashion collectives – who have found a sense of belonging and a platform to elevate their passions.
The club’s impact runs deep. In a world where societal, parental and traditional pressures weigh heavily on young women, Skate Gal Club offers a sanctuary.
“Women often rely on marriage for support or to please their parents, because studying is expensive, and so is chasing your dreams,” Sandy says.
Here, however, women are encouraged to embrace self-sufficiency and independence on their terms. Some take on leadership roles within the organisation, planning events, designing spaces and shaping the community’s direction.
What began as a simple skate collective is now a women-led organisation, compromising a 70% female core team.
One of the most significant milestones of this journey was the opening of Freedom Skatepark on 15 December 2021. The energy of that day remains unforgettable for Sandy.
“It was magical – filled with joy, music, dance, and even tears,” she recounts.
The realisation dawned on everyone present: this was more than just a skatepark, it was a movement. Built through collaborations with figures like US fashion designer Virgil Abloh, Amsterdam-based fashion brand Daily Paper, and US shoe manufacturer Vans, the park stands as a revolutionary symbol to what is achieved when a community comes together with a shared vision.
Surf Ghana
Beyond sports, Surf Ghana is deeply committed to sustainable tourism. Sandy challenges visitors to rethink their travel experiences.
“Are you only staying in a fancy hotel that doesn’t belong to a Ghanaian? Or are you spending time with locals, listening to them, eating with them?” she asks.
True sustainable tourism, she believes, lies in active participation – supporting local businesses, exploring rural gems like Wli Waterfalls (the highest waterfalls in Ghana) and Bia National Park (in Ghana’s western regions), and uplifting community-led projects.
For Sandy, Surf Ghana and Skate Gal Club are not just about providing access to sports, they are rewriting the story of African youth, fostering creative ecosystems and ensuring that the continent’s future is shaped by those who call it home.
Through her work, she has not only created a space for board sports but built a movement that champions representation, empowerment and sustainable progress.
Image credits: Courtesy of Skate Gal Club, Kuukua Eshun, Sandy Alibo
Located between Tetouan and Tangier on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, Royal Mansour Tamuda Bayis a stunning retreat designed for those seeking serenity and sophistication. With its private beach, world-class spa, and elegant villas, this resort offers the ultimate Mediterranean experience.
Relaxation Redefined in Tamuda Bay
Set on a 10-hectare estate, the resort is a haven of calm where time feels suspended. The sound of gentle waves, the aroma of sea air, and the sight of lush gardens create an inviting atmosphere of relaxation. Stretching across a 700-metre private beach, guests can enjoy turquoise waters and sunlit shores, making every moment feel like a getaway from the ordinary.
For families, couples, or solo travellers, Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay offers a range of activities to recharge and reconnect. Whether lounging on the beach or strolling through fragrant gardens, this is where life’s pace slows to an enjoyable rhythm.
Elegant Accommodation with Unmatched Views
The resort features 55 luxurious villas and suites, each designed to reflect the natural beauty of its surroundings. Positioned to maximise views of either the Mediterranean shoreline or the dramatic mountains, these accommodations provide a light-filled sanctuary of comfort and style.
From beachfront suites to garden-facing villas, every space is thoughtfully designed with a blend of modern elegance and Moroccan charm. Spacious layouts, private terraces, and tranquil interiors create a connection with nature, ensuring every guest feels at home in this Mediterranean paradise.
A Culinary Celebration of the Mediterranean
Dining at Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay is an experience in itself. Each restaurant celebrates the vibrant flavours of the Mediterranean, serving dishes crafted from the finest local and seasonal ingredients.
Guests can indulge in beachfront dining with stunning sea views or savour gourmet creations under the stars. With a focus on fresh, regional cuisine, the resort’s culinary offerings cater to every palate. Whether you’re enjoying a relaxed family meal or a romantic dinner for two, every bite promises a memorable journey through Mediterranean flavours.
A Spa Experience Like No Other
At the heart of the resort lies the Medi-Spa Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay, a serene sanctuary dedicated to well-being. Spanning 4,300 square metres, the spa offers personalised treatments that blend traditional Moroccan rituals with advanced wellness techniques.
Enjoy a range of therapies designed to restore balance and vitality, from signature massages to cutting-edge facials. The spa’s calming design, inspired by the natural surroundings, enhances every experience, making it a place where relaxation feels effortless.
Explore Andalusian Morocco
Beyond the resort, guests can discover the unique culture and history of the surrounding region, often referred to as “Andalusian Morocco.” Explore the charming streets of Tetouan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, or visit Tangier, a city where history and modernity converge. For nature enthusiasts, the nearby Rif Mountains offer hiking trails and breathtaking vistas.
A Seaside Palace
Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay is a celebration of waterside living at its finest. With its idyllic beachfront setting, exquisite design, and world-class amenities, the resort offers a timeless escape for those who appreciate the beauty of the Mediterranean lifestyle.
Whether you’re planning a romantic getaway, a family holiday, or a solo retreat, this resort is the perfect destination to relax, recharge, and explore the beauty of Morocco’s Mediterranean coast.
