Improving African Football Communication and Messaging at the centre of the Communications Workshop in Cairo

The CAF Communications Workshop held in Cairo, Egypt has underscored the importance of Member Associations and Zonal Unions setting up good structures to communicate the progress that is being made in African Football today.

More than 30 participants from CAF Member Associations gathered in Cairo, Egypt for a two-day Communications Workshop. 

The positioning and storytelling of African football took centre stage this past week under the theme: “Your Story Matters: Why African football needs to tell its story”.  

In his opening remarks, CAF General Secretary, Mr Veron Mosengo-Omba emphasised the importance of Africa remaining on par with global Communication Practises - as evidently seen at the recent TotalEnergies CAF AFCON.

“Communication was one of the best performing Departments at the Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 – and the reason for this is because we had the best people. The world of Football is changing. Communication is also changing. The demands are changing and thanks to forward-thinking people at CAF, Africa is not being left behind.”, said the CAF GS.

CAF’s Luxolo September said: “CAF has made exceptional strides in redefining the narrative of African football through its strategic use of Communications. In doing so, we have also introduced the CAF Future Media Officers programme, which has produced graduates that are at the ongoing Olympics, with some set to work at upcoming FIFA competitions. We hosted the women’s AFCON in Morocco, where for the first time, we had 100% women overseeing Communications. We are making progress, and we believe that even more can be achieved working together with our Member Associations,” said September.

The insightful workshop, which saw highly experienced speakers who have been at the centre of Communications Strategies of major international sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup and the NBA was organised with the following objectives:

• Discussing African Football Communications Strategy
• Formulating an action plan with MAs on the key Communications deliverables
• Creating an Alignment with future Hosts of CAF events
• Creating uniformity in the Media Operations: CAF events and MA events
• Capacity building and knowledge sharing

The in-depth workshop paid a particular focus on Building a Winning Communications Strategy, Modern Day Media Relations, Effective use of Digital Platforms as well as the implementation of CAF Media Operational guidelines, which was held at the Cairo International Stadium.

CAF will communicate its other planned communications activities and events in due course.