Riparian land also being reclaimed here
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Kenyans will be familiar with the pulling down of buildings to reclaim riparian land. Here in Egypt, the effort is big and concerted.
The Nile Protection and Development Sector at the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources recently removed 23 encroachments along the Nile River in six of the country.
According to a local news outlet, the total number of cleared away encroachments along the Nile River is 46,306 out of 52,777 cases detected since January 5, 2015 in the 16 governorates lying on the banks of the great African water body.
It would be interesting to know how many cases have been dealt with in Kenya.
Tournament enjoys good sponsorship
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The sponsor for the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations is the French multinational integrated oil and gas company.
Total officially partnered with Caf on July 21, 2016 to become the sponsor of African football for the next eight years.
Additionally, tournament has five major official sponsors, namely French telco Orange, betting firm 1XBet, American financial services giant Visa, American biopharmaceutical company Gilead and German automotive manufacturing firm Continental. Regional sponsors are Japan’s motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha and cereal makers Temmy’s.
Orange show little marketing aggression
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Mobile phone service provider Orange are official sponsors of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
But their visibility is rather muted. You can only get a SIM card from them from their official shops around town and nowhere else.
It is not like in Kenya where such a company would have set up several stands around the stadium and on the streets to sale and promote their products during this period.
There is no Orange stand even in the stadium nor are their company personnel available there to assist in the sale of the company’s products to fans – local or otherwise.
Foreign media tour Al Ahly Sporting Club
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Dozens of foreign journalists were on Wednesday taken on a tour of the impressive Al Ahly Sporting Club headquarters in Cairo.
The sporting facility boasts of a 20,000-capacity stadium, several football training pitches, two gymnasiums for handball, basketball and volleyball, a near Olympic size swimming pool, several restaurants and even a beauty parlour among other facilities.
Most Kenyans associate Al Ahly with football, because of the thumping the club has unleashed on Kenyan teams, and maybe volleyball. But Al Ahly, with a membership running into millions, offers 20 different sports to its members.