AFRICA’S 5 LAUNCH IN STYLE
LAGOS: A multi-national brewing company, Anheuser-busch Inbev, which is known as AB Inbev, staged an Africa 5s media launch a fortnight ago.
An initiative started by the Castle Lager brand, Africa 5 Amateur Football Tournament has been growing steadily for the last couple of years.
The 5-a-side showdown now involves eight beer brands across Africa; Club, Carling Black Label, Trophy, Nile Special, Dourada, Castle Lager and Safari.
When the project was launched in 2018, only six African countries were involved. From Southern Africa - Zambia, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Tanzania were the only six countries with Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda joining later.
In addition to increasing the league’s footprint into other countries, as a brand rooted in inclusivity and social belonging, a women’s division was introduced to the League.
In 2020, this edition is expected to make a noticeable impact across the continent as the tournament has been extended from eight to 16 countries in both the men and women’s divisions.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the event, Regional Marketing Manager for Castle Lager, Castle Lite and Carling Black label, Seth Baise, gave a detailed overview on how one can enter the competition in Botswana, “Teams can enter the competition by buying a six pack of 500ml Carling Black label, where they’ll receive a scratch card with a unique code that will allow them to register their 5-a-side team through Whatsapp.
He said community finals will be run in every country to select one team that will represent each country in the continental final, which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in July 2020.
The launch was graced by several African football legends such as Manuel Bucuane, Joseph Yobo and Samuel Eto’o as the Africa 5s brand ambassadors.
In his keynote address, Eto’o, who has played for Europe’s super clubs such as Barcelona FC, Inter Milan and Chelsea FC just to mention few, said Africa’s 5 promotes unity in the continent.
The four-time African Footballer of the Year further said he believes Africa 5s can grow African football because it gives youngsters an opportunity to showcase their talents in a more social environment.
Voice Sport also caught up with a few brand managers from different countries at their stalls and they expressed excitement about the prospect.
Carling Black Label Botswana Brand Manager, Gaamangwe Ramokgothwane, said she was happy to finally launch the Africa 5s campaign, “I’m happy that this day has finally come as we have been eagerly waiting for this to happen and this is a great chance for local 5-a-side teams to rub shoulders with other African teams that would have qualified for the finals,” she said.
Meanwhile, the regional qualifiers are expected to kickstart on the 2nd of May, 2020 while the continental finals will be held between the 16th and the 20th of July, 2020. Morever, two teams (men’s and women’s) will get an incentive trip to Italy on the 13th of August, 2020.