By Sola Fanawopo, Fez

Nothing educates you better than travel if you are a true student of life. My movement across the Fès region over the past two weeks has been a quiet masterclass in how towns, culture, and policy intersect.

How CAF arrived at choosing Fès as the Super Eagles’ base still invites explanation. But having lived here through rain, routines, and matchday rhythms, there is little to complain about.

For anyone currently in Fès waiting for the Super Eagles’ next match on Monday, take this advice seriously: visit Ifrane and Azrou. You will thank yourself later.

What becomes immediately clear is that Morocco does not debate development in theory—it demonstrates it in geography.

Within a short stretch of the Middle Atlas corridor sit three towns—Ifrane, Azrou, and Fès—each offering a different answer to the same national question:

How do you build a modern state without erasing your soul?

This contrast is not accidental. It is strategic.

Ifrane: The Discipline of Planning

Ifrane is often dismissed as artificial, “un-Moroccan,” or excessively European. That criticism misses the point. Ifrane was never meant to imitate Morocco; it was meant to test order.

Wide roads, controlled zoning, disciplined green spaces, and environmental restraint define the city. It is designed for governance, learning, and retreat—not chaos or improvisation.

The presence of Al Akhawayn University reinforces this logic. Ifrane functions as Morocco’s laboratory of patience—a proof that when the state plans deliberately, it can produce calm, functionality, and dignity.

The lesson is not that all cities should look like Ifrane.

The lesson is that planning is not a colonial vice; it is a civilisational tool.

Prepare for the snow in Ifrane—this is why it is called Little Switzerland. You will enjoy it. I did.

Azrou: Culture That Lives, Not Museums

If Ifrane is disciplined, Azrou is breath.

Azrou is not preserved—it is alive. Markets spill into streets, conversations stretch deep into cafés, and Amazing identity is not curated for visitors; it is practiced daily. This is Morocco at the human scale.

Yet Azrou also exposes a familiar African dilemma: authentic towns are often left under-invested, as though culture alone is sufficient. It is not.

Culture thrives best when supported by infrastructure, sanitation, and opportunity. Azrou’s greatest asset is its people. Its weakness is the state’s hesitation to match that human energy with serious, sustained planning.

You will also enjoy a memorable meal here. The town’s name—linked to stone—feels apt, given the imposing granite formations in the area.

Fès: Memory as Power

Fès does not compete with modern cities; it commands them.

As Morocco’s spiritual and intellectual capital, Fès is where law, religion, craftsmanship, and scholarship once converged to produce a civilisation that radiated across North and West Africa.

Institutions like the University of al-Qarawiyyin remind us that African modernity did not begin with Europe. Ask deliberately for the Medina and visit the university—the exposure is profound.

But Fès also bears the weight of its greatness. Preservation collides daily with congestion, poverty, and modern demands. Still, Morocco resists the temptation to erase Fès for convenience. Instead, it protects it—imperfectly, yes—but intentionally.

That choice matters.

A nation that abandons its memory soon loses its direction.

The Intelligence in the Contrast

What makes Morocco exceptional is not simply that it has Ifrane, Azrou, and Fès. It is that it allows all three to exist without forcing them into a single model.

Planned order, organic culture, and historical authority are not enemies. They are complementary pillars of nation-building.

Many African countries—Nigeria, especially—fall into a recurring trap:

modernity without memory

culture without structure

history without renewal

Morocco shows another way. It segments purpose, protects differences, and coordinates development without cultural panic.

The Quiet Lesson

The Middle Atlas corridor is a silent lecture in statecraft.

It teaches that development is not about copying cities but assigning roles. Some places must preserve memory. Some must carry daily life. Some must experiment with the future.

Nations fail not because they lack resources, but because they lack this clarity.

In Ifrane, Azrou, and Fès, Morocco reveals a deeper truth:

Development is not noise—it is intelligence made visible.

Sola Fanawopo, is a journalist and Chairman Osun Football Association

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By Kunle Solaja, Rabat.

Key Match Stat:
The last three meetings between South Africa and Cameroon have all ended in draws, including a friendly on 10 January 2015 and both matches during qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

South Africa and Cameroon will meet at the Africa Cup of Nations for only the second time when they square off in a Round of 16 encounter at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat on Sunday night, with kick-off set for 20h00 local time (19h00 GMT).

Despite their long-standing status on the continental stage, meetings between South Africa national football team and Cameroon national football team at Africa’s flagship tournament have been rare. Their only previous AFCON meeting came in the opening match of the 1996 edition, when hosts South Africa stunned Cameroon 3–0 at Soccer City, a result that ignited Bafana Bafana’s historic march to their maiden continental title.

Across all competitions, the sides have faced each other nine times. South Africa hold the historical edge with three wins, while Cameroon have managed just one victory, with five matches ending in draws. Notably, Cameroon’s lone success came in a 2–1 friendly win in July 1992, and the Indomitable Lions have not beaten South Africa in the seven encounters played since then.

The fixture carries personal significance for South Africa head coach Hugo Broos, who famously guided Cameroon to their fifth AFCON crown in 2017. Broos was in charge of the Indomitable Lions when the teams met during qualification for that tournament, with both legs finishing in 2–2 draws. Adding another layer of nostalgia, assistant coach Helman Mkhalele is expected on the touchline after featuring as a substitute in South Africa’s iconic 1996 opening win over Cameroon.

While emotions may run high, both teams arrive in Rabat determined to assert themselves in what promises to be a tightly contested knockout tie. South Africa are seeking to build on recent progress and surpass their previous AFCON outing, while five-time champions Cameroon continue their campaign with a squad their technical staff describe as still under construction but steadily improving.

With the last three meetings between the sides all ending in draws — including a January 2015 friendly and both 2017 AFCON qualifiers — fine margins are once again expected to define the outcome.

“If you win an AFCON with a country, there’s always a little place in your heart that stays for the rest of your life,” Broos said. “That’s the case with Cameroon and me. But tomorrow I can’t have mercy. I want to win because I’m the coach of South Africa now.”

Midfielder Teboho Mokoena echoed that ambition, stressing the team’s desire to go further than before. “The talk in camp is that we need to do better than the last AFCON. We know it will be tough against Cameroon, but we’re looking forward to the game,” he said.

Cameroon head coach David Pagou underlined the challenge ahead, praising South Africa’s cohesion. “They are the most cohesive team in this competition,” he said. “It will be a very difficult match, but it is a point of pride just to be here.”

For Cameroon defender Samuel Kotto, the contest represents the reward for collective effort. “A lot of work and preparation is underway. It’s a matter of great pride to represent our country — we are like a family,” he said.

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Goalkeeper Djigui Diarra saved twice in the shootout to help 10-man Mali to a 3-2 win via penalties after a 1-1 last-16 draw with Tunisia in Casablanca on Saturday and book an Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final with Senegal.

Tunisia striker Firas Chaouat gave his side the lead in the 88th minute as he lost his marker to guide a deep cross from Elias Saad into the net.

However, Mali were awarded a penalty in stoppage time when substitute defender Yassine Meriah inexplicably used his arm to deflect the ball from a free-kick, and Lassine Sinayoko netted in the 97th minute to send the game to extra time.

Mali had been reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Woyo Coulibaly stamped on the ankle of Tunisia’s Hannibal Mejbri, and could have few complaints, but they put in a battling performance to snatch the win in the shootout.

Quite remarkably, Mali advance to the quarter-finals having not yet won a game at the tournament in Morocco.

They drew all three of their Group A fixtures but finished runners-up in the pool, and drew against Tunisia in Casablanca.

They will face West African rivals Senegal in Tangier on Friday, after the latter earlier defeated Sudan 3-1 to advance to the last eight.

TOUGH CONDITIONS

The wet and windy conditions in Casablanca did not help the spectacle, and neither did the early red card, but it took until the 79th minute for the first shot on target from either side as Hannibal’s curling free-kick was saved by Diarra.

Mali set out to defend once they went down to 10 men, and were reduced to half-chances until they were handed the opportunity to equalise from the spot by Meriah’s moment of madness.

Chaouat had the ball in the net again for Tunisia in extra time, but he was offside and the goal was ruled out, taking the game to spot-kicks.

-Reuters

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