The elephants seemed somewhat long in the tusk

What we learned from day four of the 2013 African Cup of Nations being held in South Africa.

Gervinho of Cote d'Ivoire (Wiki Commons).

In the first match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg. Côte d’Ivoire 2 vs  Togo 1. Don’t believe the hype about Gervinho’s late winner. It was the much maligned Boubacar Barry who won this for Les Éléphants saving two certain goals in the opening and closing seconds of this intriguing match. In between Yaya Touré did his thing and Didier Drogba didn’t do his thing. The rest of the herd seem somewhat long in the tusk, with the exception of Max Gradel. Didier Six brought the best out of Team Togo. Goalscorer Jonathan Ayité and Serge Gakpé were prominent for much for match, but when each was substituted in the second half, it was a show of intent from the Les Eperviers. This was turning into a game the Sparrow Hawks could win.

Yaya Touré’s second half shot rebounding off the post may make the highlight reels and suggest he was unlucky not to score more, but that would unfair on the Togolese and especially defender Daré Nibombé who kept an herd of Elephants in his pocket for the most of the match. Sparrow Hawk keeper Kossi Agassa had been a safe pair of hands for 88 minutes. He deserved better than to misjudge a lopping cross. I expect Didier Six give him extra crosses for breakfast.

In the second game at Rustenburg (Tunisia 1 v 0 Algeria), Djamel Mesbah and Adlène Guedioura both impressed for Algeria. Mesbah was prolific down the left flank. Guedioura was the General in the midfield. It only seemed a matter of time before Les Fennecs would score, but the Crossbar Gods favored Tunisia. Algeria pressed in the second half, but it was Tunisia’s Youssef Msakni who screamed in the winner for the Carthage Eagles in the 90th minute. Incidentally, Msakni likes to be paid in Qatari rials. On this performance, Tunisia will not trouble Les Éléphants next. Algeria versus Togo promises to be a tight encounter.

Further Reading

The battle over the frame

As Hollywood recycles pro-war propaganda for Gen Z, Youssef Chahine’s ‘Djamila, the Algerian’ reminds us that anti-colonial cinema once turned imperial film language against its makers—and still can.

Fictions of freedom

K. Sello Duiker’s ‘The Quiet Violence of Dreams’ still haunts Cape Town, a city whose beauty masks its brutal exclusions. Two decades later, in the shadow of Amazon’s new development, its truths are more urgent than ever.

When things fall apart

Against a backdrop of global collapse, one exhibition used Chinua Achebe’s classic to hold space for voices from the Global South—and asked who gets to imagine the future.

The General sleeps

As former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari’s death is mourned with official reverence, a generation remembers the eight years that drove them out.

The grift tank

In Washington’s think tank ecosystem, Africa is treated as a low-stakes arena where performance substitutes for knowledge. The result: unqualified actors shaping policy on behalf of militarists, lobbyists, and frauds.

Kagame’s hidden war

Rwanda’s military deployments in Mozambique and its shadowy ties to M23 rebels in eastern Congo are not isolated interventions, rather part of a broader geopolitical strategy to expand its regional influence.

After the coups

Without institutional foundations or credible partners, the Alliance of Sahel States risks becoming the latest failed experiment in regional integration.