Moroccan ecstasy at World Cup win shared by Africa and Arab world – Reuters

RABAT/DOHA, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Moroccan soccer fans exploded in joy on Saturday as their team became the first from any African country to reach a World Cup semi-final, filling the stadium in Qatar with a deafening roar and unleashing cheering, crying, dancing and singing on the streets at home.The 1-0 victory over Portugal was celebrated further afield, with exuberant fans from Abidjan in Ivory Coast to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia lauding what they saw as a historic win for both Africa and the Arab World.”They made us happy and proud and they proved that they can make it to the final. Why not? We are so proud of this team that is supported by Africa and Arabs” said Siham Motahir, a young woman in Rabat, where cafes had filled with fans to watch the game.To the rhythmic playing of a horn, men and women jumped up and down waving the Moroccan flag – part of a sea of people who had filled Rabat’s city centre, raising a cacophonous din of triumph.The win over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal is Morocco’s third over a highly ranked European team in the tournament, a run that had brought delight both in Morocco and for Africans and Arabs more widely.African Union President Macky Sall wrote on Twitter, using capital letters to emphasise his excitement: “HISTORIC! AND FANTASTIC! THE ATLAS LIONS ARE QUALIFIED FOR THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE WORLD CUP! BRAVO MOROCCO.”Arab and African political and sporting leaders paid tribute to Morocco, including tweets from the prime ministers of Libya, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority and the rulers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.Former Ivory Coast soccer star Didier Drogba tweeted, “They did it!!!! Well done Morocco for this feat. Long live Africa.”In an Abidjan cafe where people were watching the game and drinking beer to celebrate the win, customer Jules Goule said Ivorians were proud of Morocco’s win. “Through Morocco Africa has just shown that it can compete with other continents in football,” he said.ARAB AND AFRICAN JOY”Waoh, waoh… Morocco! It’s with great joy! Africa is shining! Go Africa!” shouted Agwe Jefferson, 28, a driver in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.In Libya, a crowd watching the game in the port city of Misrata lit red flares and waved Libyan and Moroccan flags, while in the Tunisian capital people celebrated the victory.”Today Morocco honoured Africans and Arabs and made the dream we all have possible,” said Ameur Souilam in Tunis.Meanwhile in the Palestinian territories and Israel, thousands of people packed cafes, restaurants and soccer stadiums screening the match, bursting into cheers with Morocco’s triumph. After its previous win, Morocco’s team had posed with the Palestinian flag.[1/5]

The 1-0 victory over Portugal was celebrated further afield, with exuberant fans from Abidjan in Ivory Coast to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia lauding what they saw as a historic win for both Africa and the Arab World.

“They made us happy and proud and they proved that they can make it to the final. Why not? We are so proud of this team that is supported by Africa and Arabs” said Siham Motahir, a young woman in Rabat, where cafes had filled with fans to watch the game.

To the rhythmic playing of a horn, men and women jumped up and down waving the Moroccan flag – part of a sea of people who had filled Rabat’s city centre, raising a cacophonous din of triumph.

The win over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal is Morocco’s third over a highly ranked European team in the tournament, a run that had brought delight both in Morocco and for Africans and Arabs more widely.

African Union President Macky Sall wrote on Twitter, using capital letters to emphasise his excitement: “HISTORIC! AND FANTASTIC! THE ATLAS LIONS ARE QUALIFIED FOR THE SEMI-FINALS OF THE WORLD CUP! BRAVO MOROCCO.”

Arab and African political and sporting leaders paid tribute to Morocco, including tweets from the prime ministers of Libya, Iraq and the Palestinian Authority and the rulers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Former Ivory Coast soccer star Didier Drogba tweeted, “They did it!!!! Well done Morocco for this feat. Long live Africa.”

In an Abidjan cafe where people were watching the game and drinking beer to celebrate the win, customer Jules Goule said Ivorians were proud of Morocco’s win. “Through Morocco Africa has just shown that it can compete with other continents in football,” he said.

ARAB AND AFRICAN JOY

“Waoh, waoh… Morocco! It’s with great joy! Africa is shining! Go Africa!” shouted Agwe Jefferson, 28, a driver in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.

In Libya, a crowd watching the game in the port city of Misrata lit red flares and waved Libyan and Moroccan flags, while in the Tunisian capital people celebrated the victory.

“Today Morocco honoured Africans and Arabs and made the dream we all have possible,” said Ameur Souilam in Tunis.

Meanwhile in the Palestinian territories and Israel, thousands of people packed cafes, restaurants and soccer stadiums screening the match, bursting into cheers with Morocco’s triumph. After its previous win, Morocco’s team had posed with the Palestinian flag.

[1/5] Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Fans gather in Tunis for Morocco v Portugal – Tunis, Tunisia – December 10, 2022 Morocco fans celebrate after the match as Morocco progress to the semi finals REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

“Seeing the Palestinian flag being waved by Morocco footballers made us feel as if we won,” said Gaza businessman Imad Joudat.

In the Edgware Road district of London, long a centre of the city’s Arab community, the street was jammed with cars honking horns and waving flags and in Paris chanting and cheering Moroccan fans filled the Champs Elysees.

SINGING, FLAG WAVING, CHEERING

Moroccan fans erupted when Youssef En-Nesyri scored the game’s only goal. In the Jmaa al-Fnaa, the historic main square of Marrakech where authorities had put a big screen for fans, thousands of people leaped up and down as the ball went in.

As the game wound on, Morocco fans in the stadium screamed “Ole, ole, ole!” in unison, drowning out the handful of Portuguese fans and whistling whenever Portugal took possession of the ball.

Behind the two goals, banks of Moroccan supporters stood for the whole match with drummers and fan leaders coordinating the chants.

One man wearing the red and green of Morocco’s national flag and its football kit raised his hands in supplication as the final minutes ticked away, shouting “O God, o God”.

In the media box, a security guard, screaming with triumph, hugged a Moroccan journalist who was weeping with happiness.

As Moroccan player Jawad El Yamiq circled the pitch with a half-Moroccan, half-Qatari flag draped around his shoulders, one fan stood motionless, looking out over the pitch with his hands over his mouth as if unable to take in the scale of the win.

Outside the stadium a drummer led fans in a chant of “Go, go, go” before they sang “Al-Andalus al-Andalus” – the name of the historic Muslim state once ruling Spain and Portugal, the two teams Morocco has now knocked out.

With many Moroccans living and working in the Gulf, Morocco’s World Cup matches have felt like home-team games and Ismail Chakour, a Dubai-based banker, said he had been determined to attend the match “whatever the cost”.

In Rabat, joyful fans thronged the streets and headed towards the downtown square where Morocco’s victories are celebrated.

Children were hoisted onto parents shoulders and bounced up and down with the rest of the crowd, singing songs and waving flags.

“The last few minutes felt like hours,” said Samir Saqri as he joined a crowd pouring out from the cafe where they had watched the game to head downtown.

Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi in Rabat and Andrew Mills in Doha; Additional reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly in Abidjan, Amindeh Blaise Atabong in Yaounde, Alessandra Prentice in Dakar, Nidal Al Mughrabi in Gaza, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Tarek Amara in Tunis, Ayman al-Sahily in Misrata, Ahmed Tolba in Cairo and Antony Paone with Reuters TV in Paris; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mike Harrison

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Agriculture

Zim takes investment opportunities to Türkiye indaba – The Herald

Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor
Zimbabwe’s investment opportunities will take centre-stage during the 4th Türkiye-Africa Business Forum where Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava is expected to lead the country’s delegation.
The economic business forum is set for Thursday and Friday next week at the Istanbul Congress Center in Istanbul.
In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Alfred Mutiwazuka, confirmed Harare’s participation.
He said Zimbabwe’s delegation will comprise officials from ZimTrade, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Government institutions and private sector companies.
“In line with Zimbabwe`s engagement and re-engagement drive, Minister Shava will have a meeting with Professor Dr Omer Bolat, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye to discuss among other issues: the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement signed in 2018 and ratified by Türkiye in February 2022 and implementation of the Agreement to Establish the Türkiye-Zimbabwe Business Council signed in 2016 by the CZI and Türkiye’s Foreign Economic Relations Board,” said Ambassador Mutiwazuka.
“The Minister will engage players in the agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport and infrastructure sectors with a view to inviting them to invest in Zimbabwe.”
Ambassador Shava is also expected to participate in a panel on “Türkiye and Opportunities under the AfCFTA”, a topic that the Turkish authorities have shown great interest in, as they advance Türkiye-Africa cooperation.
Some members of the Zimbabwe delegation will participate in other panel meetings on digital transformation, health technologies, sustainability of value chains in the agro-industries and manufacturing sectors, women entrepreneurship, free zones, the AfCFTA, financing of trade and investments and banking during the two-day conference.
Ambassador Mutiwazuka said the Türkiye-Africa Economic Business Forum offers mutual benefits to both Africa and Türkiye, through increased economic cooperation.
“The Forum demonstrates the emerging role of African countries as dynamic players in the global business arena. African countries and Zimbabwe, in particular, benefit from the increasing economic development of Türkiye economic cooperation hinged on the ‘win-win’ principle,” he said.
Africa benefits from this forum in various ways including facilitating increased trade and investment between Africa and Türkiye by promoting economic relations and encouraging Turkish businesses to invest on the continent.
Increased investments are expected to lead to job creation, infrastructure development, and increased revenue for African nations.
African countries are also expected to benefit from infrastructure development since Türkiye has expertise in infrastructure projects such as construction, transportation, and energy.
Through the forum, Africa can benefit from Turkish investments and technologies, which address crucial infrastructure gaps in many African countries.
Türkiye also has experience in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, which can be shared with African nations to enhance their own industrialisation efforts.
President Mnangagwa has reiterated that Zimbabwe is on an unrestrained path to industrialisation and modernisation, and the country is expected to benefit from its participation in the business forum.
It is expected that collaboration with Türkiye in the manufacturing and industrial sectors can help Africa develop local industries, reduce import dependency, and create employment opportunities.
With many countries experiencing food shortages, it is expected that through participation in the business forum, African countries will benefit Türkiye’s advanced agricultural technologies — machinery and implements — and knowledge that help to improve productivity, increase food security, and enhance agricultural value chains.
This knowledge transfer can contribute to sustainable agricultural development in Africa.
The Türkiye -Africa Economic Business Forum also promotes tourism and cultural exchanges and investment in the tourism industry, thereby creating employment opportunities, and fostering cultural understanding.
African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, Ambassador Albert Muchanga has said this year’s Türkiye-Africa Economic and Business Forum convenes against the background of global challenges of climate change and its adverse impact of heat waves, flooding and drought, inflation, geopolitical tensions, food and energy insecurity as well as the lingering Covid-19 pandemic is some parts of the world.
But he said while this is a period of multiple challenges, it is also a period of opportunity and hope, and the “key lever is cooperation because it is a vital instrument in meeting the world’s complex challenges which no country or region can solve on its own”.
“The Türkiye-Africa Economic and Business Forum is a strategic lever in this regard,” said Ambassador Muchanga.

Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor

Zimbabwe’s investment opportunities will take centre-stage during the 4th Türkiye-Africa Business Forum where Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava is expected to lead the country’s delegation.

The economic business forum is set for Thursday and Friday next week at the Istanbul Congress Center in Istanbul.

In an interview yesterday, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Türkiye, Alfred Mutiwazuka, confirmed Harare’s participation.

He said Zimbabwe’s delegation will comprise officials from ZimTrade, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Government institutions and private sector companies.

“In line with Zimbabwe`s engagement and re-engagement drive, Minister Shava will have a meeting with Professor Dr Omer Bolat, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye to discuss among other issues: the Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement signed in 2018 and ratified by Türkiye in February 2022 and implementation of the Agreement to Establish the Türkiye-Zimbabwe Business Council signed in 2016 by the CZI and Türkiye’s Foreign Economic Relations Board,” said Ambassador Mutiwazuka.

“The Minister will engage players in the agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport and infrastructure sectors with a view to inviting them to invest in Zimbabwe.”

Ambassador Shava is also expected to participate in a panel on “Türkiye and Opportunities under the AfCFTA”, a topic that the Turkish authorities have shown great interest in, as they advance Türkiye-Africa cooperation.

Some members of the Zimbabwe delegation will participate in other panel meetings on digital transformation, health technologies, sustainability of value chains in the agro-industries and manufacturing sectors, women entrepreneurship, free zones, the AfCFTA, financing of trade and investments and banking during the two-day conference.

Ambassador Mutiwazuka said the Türkiye-Africa Economic Business Forum offers mutual benefits to both Africa and Türkiye, through increased economic cooperation.

“The Forum demonstrates the emerging role of African countries as dynamic players in the global business arena. African countries and Zimbabwe, in particular, benefit from the increasing economic development of Türkiye economic cooperation hinged on the ‘win-win’ principle,” he said.

Africa benefits from this forum in various ways including facilitating increased trade and investment between Africa and Türkiye by promoting economic relations and encouraging Turkish businesses to invest on the continent.

Increased investments are expected to lead to job creation, infrastructure development, and increased revenue for African nations.

African countries are also expected to benefit from infrastructure development since Türkiye has expertise in infrastructure projects such as construction, transportation, and energy.

Through the forum, Africa can benefit from Turkish investments and technologies, which address crucial infrastructure gaps in many African countries.

Türkiye also has experience in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, which can be shared with African nations to enhance their own industrialisation efforts.

President Mnangagwa has reiterated that Zimbabwe is on an unrestrained path to industrialisation and modernisation, and the country is expected to benefit from its participation in the business forum.

It is expected that collaboration with Türkiye in the manufacturing and industrial sectors can help Africa develop local industries, reduce import dependency, and create employment opportunities.

With many countries experiencing food shortages, it is expected that through participation in the business forum, African countries will benefit Türkiye’s advanced agricultural technologies — machinery and implements — and knowledge that help to improve productivity, increase food security, and enhance agricultural value chains.

This knowledge transfer can contribute to sustainable agricultural development in Africa.

The Türkiye -Africa Economic Business Forum also promotes tourism and cultural exchanges and investment in the tourism industry, thereby creating employment opportunities, and fostering cultural understanding.

African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, Ambassador Albert Muchanga has said this year’s Türkiye-Africa Economic and Business Forum convenes against the background of global challenges of climate change and its adverse impact of heat waves, flooding and drought, inflation, geopolitical tensions, food and energy insecurity as well as the lingering Covid-19 pandemic is some parts of the world.

But he said while this is a period of multiple challenges, it is also a period of opportunity and hope, and the “key lever is cooperation because it is a vital instrument in meeting the world’s complex challenges which no country or region can solve on its own”.

“The Türkiye-Africa Economic and Business Forum is a strategic lever in this regard,” said Ambassador Muchanga.

Agriculture

Zim takes investment opportunities to Türkiye indaba – The Herald