At one stage, Pele’s prediction looked like it might come to pass. Nigeria came top of a group featuring Argentina and Diego Maradona at the 1994 edition, while the likes of  George Weah  and Jay-Jay Okocha were making their mark in Europe during the 1990s.

Half-man, half-beast, the tall African statues dominate a busy gallery in Paris’ Quai Branly museum. But few of the visitors are aware they are looking at what might be considered stolen goods.

South Africa’s newly reinstated National Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom has given a glowing picture of the future of tourism in Africa, backing it up with statistics that show that the industry may be the next black gold if the growth trend is sustained and Africa gets its priorities right.

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Sunday inspected the ongoing projects in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, saying the massive investments being jointly made in the axis by government and the private sector was targeted at making Lagos emerge as the next destination for business in Africa.

Africa remains the fastest growing mobile markets – the continent continues to grow faster than any other continent at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of six percent for the next five years, reaching close to one billion mobile subscriptions by 2023. In this time, more than 90% of the population in Africa will subscribe to a mobile service.