{"id":30371,"date":"2023-07-09T17:30:12","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T17:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast"},"modified":"2023-07-09T17:46:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-09T17:46:03","slug":"akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast","title":{"rendered":"AKWABA unveiled as official mascot for 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The Organizing Committee (COCAN), in collaboration with the Government of Ivory Coast and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), unveiled the official Mascot for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan on Friday night.<\/b><\/p>\n

During a launch event in Abidjan, the official Mascot named \u201cAKWABA\u201d was introduced to the people of Ivory Coast, marking the start of the 190-day countdown to the tournament kick-off. The opening match is scheduled to take place on January 13, 2023.<\/p>\n

AKWABA is derived from a local Ivorian language and means \u201cwelcome.\u201d It represents the core values of hospitality, friendship, generosity, and team spirit, making it a powerful symbol of competition.<\/p>\n

AKWABA embodies the essence of Ivorian hospitality, connecting with fans, players, and nations, and celebrating the spirit of teamwork by promoting cooperation, mutual respect, and fair play, according to a CAF statement.<\/p>\n

As the official image of the tournament in Ivory Coast, AKWABA represents the Ivorian identity and draws inspiration from the country\u2019s iconic elephant. It now becomes the face of the competition.<\/p>\n

The selection process for AKWABA began over a year ago, with an open and inclusive competition allowing talented individuals to showcase their creativity in designing the mascot for early next year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

So far, 15 teams have been confirmed, including the host, with Ghana and others, hoping to secure qualification in September when the final round of qualifiers is played.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The Organizing Committee (COCAN), in collaboration with the Government of Ivory Coast and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), unveiled the official Mascot for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan on Friday night. During a launch event in Abidjan, the official Mascot named \u201cAKWABA\u201d was introduced to the people of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":30370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-30371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nAKWABA unveiled as official mascot for 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Organizing Committee (COCAN), in collaboration with the Government of Ivory Coast and the Confederation of Africa ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AKWABA unveiled as official mascot for 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Organizing Committee (COCAN), in collaboration with the Government of Ivory Coast and the Confederation of Africa ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-09T17:30:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-09T17:46:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/07\/sm_1688908256.067252.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"AKWABA unveiled as official mascot for 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-09T17:30:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-09T17:46:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast\"},\"wordCount\":250,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/07\/sm_1688908256.067252.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/akwaba-unveiled-as-official-mascot-for-2023-afcon-in-ivory-coast\",\"name\":\"AKWABA unveiled as official mascot for 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast - 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