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Countries organise sporting fiestas not just for the adrenaline and excitement, but with intent to rake up huge revenue from different aspects of the sporting business. One source of revenue is the influx of sports tourists to the host country. The World Cup, for example, is bidded for and hosted by countries not just for the prestige and focus it brings to country, but also the revenue it could generate.
One sector that benefits from sports fiesta like a football tournament is the tourism industry. A primary economic benefit of hosting a football tournament like the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the huge tourist traffic it attracts. Tourist traffic translates into huge economic benefits for host countries and communities. It injects foreign exchange into the host countries’ economy. Hotels, restaurants, and local businesses enjoy business boom, boosting their revenue.
At this period, hotels and accommodation facilities become hot commodities. From budget bed-and-breakfast hotels, to luxury hotels, they all enjoy increase in occupancy, leading to increase in revenue. This creates job opportunities, and stimulates the local economy. So, tourists are the life blood of sports events, and in Africa, Nigeria is among the highest attendees of sporting events, especially football.
Also, it is a known fact that in the whole of Africa, one of the most exuberant and flamboyant group of football supporters are Nigerian football fans. In whichever city the Super Eagles of Nigeria play, Nigerians flood the city in large numbers. For the AFCON 2024, Nigeria is grouped with the host country Cote D’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. Although there is a large Nigerian population in Abidjan, the huge presence of Nigerian fans is expected at the stadium. However, the number might not be as high as past Nations Cups due to the harsh economy, and astronomical cost of air tickets. Currently, an average cost of a return ticket for most of the airlines stands at $700, the Naira equivalent is close to a million naira.
However, for less about N2000, 000, an average Nigerian fan can have a return trip Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. With a total budget of less than a million naira, a Nigerian football fan can travel to Abidjan and stay up to a week for the football competition.
Road trips across West Africa could be fun. It saves money, and offer tourists the opportunity to know the people, culture and cuisines of different countries of West Africa while in transit, and compared to the current airfares, it is very cheap. Also the ECOWAS Protocol to Free Movement paragraph 2 of Article 27 of the Treaty exempts citizens of member states from holding visitor’s visa and residence permits and allow them to work and undertake commercial and industrial activities within their territories. This means Nigerian football fans do not need a visa to travel once that person is in possession of an international passport or a Nigerian national identity card.
Many of the transport companies that ply the West Africa route from Nigeria load from their terminals in Amuwo Odofin (ABC Transport Company), Mile Two, Maza Maza and Agege areas, all in Lagos. There are big branded transport companies and smaller non-branded transport companies all doing the West Africa route. Most have Accra, Ghana as their terminal point, however, The Young Shall Grow and few others get as far as Abidjan.
While a road trip to Abidjan could take up to 17 hours, a large chunk of the time spent on the road is as a result of border formalities. The key border crossing are Villa Khonji, (Seme (Nigeria and Benin Republic), Hillakondji (Benin Republic and Togo), Aflao in Lome (Togo and Ghana) and the last is Elubo (Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire). While there are buses that travel as far as Abidjan, these shuttle are not daily, sometimes twice a week.
For individuals or groups travelling for AFCON the best is to use one of the transport companies. For about N150,000, one could get a return ticket to Accra, Ghana but it is better to alight at Aflao and join commercial buses travelling to Abidjan or Elubo. From the Ghana side of Elubo border town, one could cross Cote D’Ivoire. There are available buses from there to Abidjan, a journey of less than two hours through Grand Bassam.
However, football fans could also break the trip, first travelling to Lome or Accra; spend the night, and the next day board a bus to Abidjan. Lome, Togo is a wonderful city to spend the night due to its healthy and well secured nightlife. The next day, one could then cross to the Ghana side of Aflao and board a bus to Elubo town or Abidjan.
Speaking on the road trip to Abidjan, one of the leading tour operators in Nigeria, based in Badagry, Lagos, advised tourists to use branded bus companies on such tours. “It is better to use the big branded bus companies for this kind of trip because of some of the difficulties you see at border towns, especially in places like Elubo. The bus companies have an arrangement with those at the border posts that makes the entry and exit into these West African countries smooth and seamless. But if you use the smaller commercial buses and cars, the immigration officials at some of these border posts make things unnecessarily difficult for travellers, especially Nigerians. Nigerian government should pay close attention to some of the ways Nigerians are treated at these border posts, especially Aflao”
However, despite the delays at the point of entry to these countries as one travels, a tour through the West African land route to Abidjan offers tourists the opportunity to feast on the natural landscapes of the region. A key route like the Ouidah-Hillakhondji international highway has so much to offer in terms of the beautiful spread of coastline vegetation and sandy beaches. Tourists also have the opportunity to explore the culinary offerings at Villa Khonji restaurants and be able to buy some very interesting fabrics, or just buy and have a sip of coconut water and the soft inside. These are part of the experience. The landscape of the Cape Coast area through Takoradi to Elubo is also interesting to behold.
These are things one misses on a close two-hour flight to Abidjan by air. For the 2023 AFCON football tournament, football lovers can have the best of two: an educational trip through West Africa, and the best of African football.
