Kenya: The Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Creative Economy Ababu Namwamba, paid a courtesy call on the Ivorian Minister of Sports and Culture Hon. Adje Silas Metch.
The meeting came on the sidelines of his benchmarking mission of AFCON 23 in Abidjan, Cotê d’Ivoire. During the meeting, Minister Adje Silas Metch and CS Ababu Namwamba held fruitful discussions.
The two politicians talked about topics including youth football development. The discussion also touched on key lessons in hosting a successful continental football tournament.
Cabinet Secretary Namwamba appreciated Cotê d’Ivoire team for a spirited performance on their way to the finals, He also said: “Cotê d’Ivoire has made Africa proud.
“You have presented us with the most competitive AFCON’23, amazing football. We take great lessons on the venues management, general organisation as well as the overall infrastructure development, to help us in our plan for AFCON’27.” He said
The Cabinet Secretary, Ababu Namawamba, also discussed football development. He reiterated Kenya’s readiness to work with Cotê d’Ivoire to nurture football talents. Especially through deliberate, intentional and structured grassroots development.
“Cotê d’Ivoire is a top Africa football nation, with a strong team globally. As Kenya, we want to work with you to develop our football by leveraging your experience and great reputation in this field, ” He observed.
“We are keen on taping into your structures for grassroot football development and the well laid out infrastructure for talent identification, to propel our #TalantaHela initiative, which seeks to grow talents from the grassroots, nurture and monetize them,” he added.
The CS extended a partnership invitation to the Minister for a football exchange program. In the programme, they will be targeting the U17, U19 and U20 teams from the two nations.
The officials believed that the programme would serve as a way of developing youth football.
Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports and Creative Economy acknowledged that the two nations are pooled together for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. CS Ababu Namwamba extended his invitation to the Ivorians to utilise Kenya’s grounds as they prepare for their qualifiers against Burundi, who are also in the same qualifiers group.
On his part, Minister Metch expresed his readiness to collaborate with Kenya in sports and the creatives, adding that Cotê d’Ivoire was happy to share their AFCON’23 experience to help the East Africa Pamoja nations’ preparation for the 2027 bonanza.
“Africa is endowed with huge talents and all we need are good infrastructures for them to express their talents. We are happy to lend our experience to aid your preparations,” he said.
Metch further assured the CS of Cotê d’Ivoire of its willingness to partner in football talent development, committing full support for programs that help the youth realize their full potential.