Rave reviews from the opening ceremony of Africa’s biggest sporting event, AFCON 2023, continue to ripple across social media, with CAF President Patrice Motsepe calling it ‘’a spectacle that unites all of Africa.’’
Nigerian music star Yemi Alade, who headlined the event, called it a dream come true.
“Since 2016, I have envisioned performing at the stadium for football ceremonies surrounded by hundreds of dancers and people.
“Seven years later, I’m performing at AFCON. It is indeed an honour and a dream come true. It’s just the beginning,” she said on X.
Organisers kept the entire opening feature true to the African colour of dancing, celebrating Africa, humanity, and football.
The build-up to the opening ceremony also positively impacted the social media algorithms of the performers, with Egyptian actor and rapper Mohamed Ramadan announcing that his YouTube account had exceeded 500 billion views.
Mohamed Ramadan featured alongside Yemi Alade in 'Akwaba', the theme song for the tournament, composed by Ivorian music band Magic System and produced by Grammy nominee and Congolese artist Danny Synthe.
‘’Africa is ready,’’ he wrote of Facebook while thanking fans for their energy all through the opening theme sequence.
On YouTube, Akwaba already has over 5 million views.
In late December, Universal Music Africa, on whose platform the song was released, said there were more AFCON theme songs.
‘’For the best of CAN, we’ve brought together 15 talented artists and 7 prestigious beatmakers to bring you the most beautiful music party on the continent,’’ the company wrote on Instagram.
