An African football celebration and enchanting colours for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Official Draw Ceremony awaits this evening.

With just a few hours to go before CAF stages the Official Draw at the newly built Parc des Expositions in Abidjan, a stellar line-up of African music hit-makers has been lined up to dazzle the crowd and millions of viewers expected to tune in globally.

As in previous editions, CAF has unveiled the official song for the competition which is set to be performed Live this evening.

The song features MTV award-winning Nigerian artist Yemi Alade, the multi-talented Egyptian rapper Mohamed Ramadan and Ivorian hit-makers Magic System.

Titled Akwaba, meaning welcome in the  native language of Baoulé, the anthem is an exciting fusion of afrobeat, rap and zouglou in a unique musical mix that remains deeply entrenched with the tradition of the competition’s previous anthems.

The hit-makers represent the diverse culture and ethnicity of the African continent’s music and dance, which continues to transcend beyond its shores.

A few hours before presenting this musical masterpiece to the world, Magic System announced their honour and excitement of being a part of the historic collaboration.

“We are proud and happy to have been chosen by our country to contribute musically to the success of the Africa Cup of Nations, to be held from January 13 to February 11 in Côte d’Ivoire. This is an exciting opportunity for us to invite others to give a unifying anthem to this exceptional competition. We’d like to thank the Ivorian government, COCAN and FIF for this vote of confidence”, said Magic System.

Themed as “The Pride of African Football, the ceremony will be a star-studded affair of African football, music and entertainment in celebration of the continent.

Apart from the Official Draw ceremony this evening, the city of Abidjan is abuzz with African football euphoria with Ivorian national flags hoisted around the city, fans donning their favourite African team colours and the official mascot, Akwaba spotted across the city.

The Live Draw will be beamed live across the globe and can be viewed on CAF’s Official YouTube Channel.