Maazou Moussa, centre, and his Niger teammates qualified for the tournament ahead of South Africa.
Maazou Moussa, centre, and his Niger teammates qualified for the tournament ahead of South Africa.

Standing on shoulders of giants at the upcoming African Cup of Nations



On parched ground on the outskirts of Niamey, Frederic Acosta carefully assembles his tools. He has been to kiosks in the capital of his native Niger, asking sweet stall holders for the conical display units they use to stack lollipops. He has popped in at bicycle repair shops, scrounging old inner tubes.

Acosta is a coach with the Niger Football Federation. He was capped by the national team, in the side that fans in one of Africa's poorest countries recall as one of Niger's finest because they finished just behind Algeria in qualifying for the 1982 World Cup.

Some 30 years later, Niger has new idols: the players who on Saturday in Gabon will for the first time ever represent them at an African Cup of Nations.

Acosta can take some credit, having worked with up-and-coming Niger footballers for a generation.

He collects lollipop display units to use as practice pitch cones; his worn rubber inner tubes are for marking lines in various training drills.

"In other countries, the federation would order in specialist equipment," Acosta told this reporter on a previous visit. "I make these savings so my players can eat better."

Nutrition is important in a nation which ranks second to last on the UN's worldwide Human Development Index and which has suffered serious drought in the last five years.

Neither Acosta not Harouna Doula, the head coach of the senior Niger squad, expect towering Goliaths to emerge from the broad expanse of Sahel they call home.

"In Niger we are not generally big and physically powerful," Acosta said. "So, we need to find our best style of play, to be clever with the ball."

Niger were certainly clever enough in qualifying not only to finish ahead in their group of Egypt, the African Cup of Nations winners three times from 2006 to 2010, but also South Africa, the continent's wealthiest state.

Theirs is a fetching underdog story, although in the bizarre Who's Who of the 28th Cup of Nations, there are almost as many underdogs as top cats.

Take Botswana, the fellow debutants, without anybody resembling a superstar in their midst and yet one of the first teams to steam past the post, ahead of Tunisia and Togo, who were both competing in a World Cup finals five and half years ago.

The 2012 tournament was already novel for taking place in countries outside the African aristocracy.

Oil-rich Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were not to know they would be hosting the aftermath of a footballing set of coups, deciphering how Niger, with a population a 10th the size of Nigeria's have qualified and the Super Eagles have not, wondering how come Samuel Eto'o's Cameroon did not make it but Burkina Faso did.

And trying to fathom how Egypt could plunge so far so fast and yet Libya who, despite playing "home" fixtures abroad because of war, progressed from a Cup of Nations qualifying tournament for only the second time in their history.

Optimists will tell you that in Africa standards have risen, which means the old establishment gets punished more sharply for complacency.

Pessimists will bemoan how the likes of Nigeria and Cameroon seem to be going backwards at senior national level, and always prepare badly.

Certainly South Africa did that. Not much more than a year after their magnificent job of organising the continent's first World Cup, South Africa's coaching staff failed to read properly the regulations on qualifying and thought, after a point in their last match, they had enough to make it at Niger's expense to the tournament. Embarrassingly, they had got their sums wrong.

So much for the absent heavyweights.

Of more concern to those hoping for a better quality of football than was seen at the last Cup of Nations, the Angola event horribly stained by the fatal shooting in an ambush of Togolese team staff, are the individuals who shun the event.

Ghana will start as second favourites. Were they to line up with Chelsea's Michael Essien and AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng in midfield, they might be higher than that.

Both players have "retired" from international commitments.

Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali will give the Cup of Nations the iconic figures on which some of its global popularity depends, the likes of Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Newcastle United's Demba Ba and Barcelona's Seydou Keita.

But the finals will be characterised by a higher number than usual of footballers employed not by clubs in Europe but in Africa.

The presence of Niger, Botswana and Libya - not great exporters of footballers to Europe's leading leagues - guarantees that. That may yet turn out to be rather refreshing.

A MAN FROM MOTIHARI

Author: Abdullah Khan
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 304
Available: Now

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (Kick-off midnight UAE)

Saturday Levante v Getafe (5pm), Sevilla v Real Madrid (7.15pm), Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid (9.30pm), Cadiz v Barcelona (midnight)

Sunday Granada v Huesca (5pm), Osasuna v Real Betis (7.15pm), Villarreal v Elche (9.30pm), Alaves v Real Sociedad (midnight)

Monday Eibar v Valencia (midnight)

Yahya Al Ghassani's bio

Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends

SPECS: Polestar 3

Engine: Long-range dual motor with 400V battery
Power: 360kW / 483bhp
Torque: 840Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 628km
0-100km/h: 4.7sec
Top speed: 210kph
Price: From Dh360,000
On sale: September

ROUTE TO TITLE

Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule

  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting

-      Don’t do it more than once in three days

-      Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days

-      Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode

-      Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well

-      Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days

-      Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates

-      Manage your sleep

-      People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting

-      Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert

'Saand Ki Aankh'

Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km

Price: from Dh94,900

On sale: now

The stats and facts

1.9 million women are at risk of developing cervical cancer in the UAE

80% of people, females and males, will get human papillomavirus (HPV) once in their lifetime

Out of more than 100 types of HPV, 14 strains are cancer-causing

99.9% of cervical cancers are caused by the virus

A five-year survival rate of close to 96% can be achieved with regular screenings for cervical cancer detection

Women aged 25 to 29 should get a Pap smear every three years

Women aged 30 to 65 should do a Pap smear and HPV test every five years

Children aged 13 and above should get the HPV vaccine

Padmaavat

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh

3.5/5

Ramez Gab Min El Akher

Creator: Ramez Galal

Starring: Ramez Galal

Streaming on: MBC Shahid

Rating: 2.5/5

CONFIRMED LINE-UP

Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
Ons Jabeur (Tunisia)
Maria Sakkari (Greece)
Barbora Krejčíková (Czech Republic)
Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil)
Jeļena Ostapenko (Latvia)
Liudmila Samsonova
Daria Kasatkina
Veronika Kudermetova
Caroline Garcia (France)
Magda Linette (Poland)
Sorana Cîrstea (Romania)
Anastasia Potapova
Anhelina Kalinina (Ukraine)
Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
Emma Navarro (USA)
Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine)
Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) – wildcard

Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
​​​​​​​Bloomsbury Academic

Kill

Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal

Rating: 4.5/5

EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS

Estijaba – 8001717 –  number to call to request coronavirus testing

Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111

Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre

Emirates airline – 600555555

Etihad Airways – 600555666

Ambulance – 998

Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries

SPECS

Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now

'Midnights'

Artist: Taylor Swift

Label: Republic Records

Rating: 4/5

'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams 
Penguin Randomhouse

Company Profile

Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8


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