Category: Great People

A Heritage of Great African leaders and visionaries

South African Lawyer Navi Pillay is 2026 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

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Navi Pillay (Source: inews.zoombangla.com)

This year, South African lawyer Navi Pillay is the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She joins 4 other illustrious countrymen Nobel peace laureates, Albert Luthuli (1960 – first Black person to be win the award), Desmond Tutu (1984), Nelson Mandela (1993) joint with F. W. de Klerk (1993). This makes her the first South African woman to win the prestigious prize. She also joins other continental laureates such as Egyptian Anwar Sadat (1978), Ghanaian Kofi Annan (2001), Kenyan Wangari Maathai, first African Woman Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2004), Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei, Liberians Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2011) and Leymah Gbowee (2011), Congolese Denis Mukwege (2018), and Abiy Ahmed (2019). As you can see she is only the fourth African woman to win the prestigious award. As a food for thought, isn’t it weird that a lot of these awards are given out just before the awardees start wars or something of the sort? … so not sure how much weight we should really put into them as ‘peace’ prizes, but the world still seems to praise these.

Flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa

Who is Navi Pillay? She is a South African of Tamil-Indian origin whose grandparents emigrated to South Africa, specifically to Durban at the turn of the 20th century to work on the sugar plantations. Her family established itself there, and she grew up in Durban during the apartheid era, later went on to study law at Harvard University in the United States, and went on to become the first woman of color to open a law firm in South Africa, during the apartheid era. She spent her early career defending activists who risked everything to challenge injustice at a time when injustice and the justice system in South Africa was viciously divided along color lines. Her work carried the same courage and clarity that would later define her global leadership. She built a reputation for judicial rigor and moral courage

She established herself not only at home in South Africa, but also beyond its borders. As a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, she helped establish that sexual violence can be prosecuted as genocide. At the International Criminal Court at the Hague, she strengthened the foundations of accountability for mass atrocities. Later, as a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, she insisted that human rights must remain central even when political winds shift. Today, she continues her work at the International Court of Justice (that instrument used by the ‘International Community’ to police the rest of the world to its advantage), serving as an ad hoc judge in cases involving genocide and crimes against humanity. Her career spans more than 50 years, consistently focused on holding perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable and expanding the reach of international law.

Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize award in the historic Nuremberg courtroom; there she dedicated her award to survivors of international crimes. Her words reminded the world that peace is not simply the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of accountability. Peace is the recognition of truth. Peace is the courage to confront harm and repair it. Peace is staying cool-headed in the face of adversity and discerning the good from the bad!

Navi Pillay’s achievement is a milestone for Africa. As we saw above, she joins a long list of illustrious Africans. Her achievement is also a milestone for women, particularly women in law, and for every person who believes in the power of justice. Her legacy continues to grow, and her work lights a path for future generations of lawyers, activists, and leaders who refuse to accept silence in the face of suffering.

Cheikh Hamidou Kane and Our New Ambiguous Adventure

On By Dr. Y.In Great Literature, Great Moments, Great PeopleLeave a comment
Cheikh Hamidou Kane (Source: Wikipedia)

As we mourn the loss of our father Cheikh Hamidou Kane and celebrate his life, we have to re-examine his novel L’Aventure ambiguë as it pertains to our life today and challenges and wins. As such, globalization and artificial intelligence (AI), and the question Kane asked us: can we move forward without losing ourselves? as we move forward, whose story/culture wins? and more importantly, should we lose ourselves? Is there no happy medium?

I ended my last post with a question that has stayed with me: How do we open ourselves to the knowledge of the world without losing who we are? We are Africans, we come from the cradle of humanity, with ancestral traditions that pre-date most of the world’s. We have also been under attack from slavery, colonialism, and now modernism/globalization, should we erase who we are to survive in this world, or do we adapt? Could we have both?

L’Aventure ambiguë de Cheikh Hamidou Kane

When Cheikh Hamidou Kane published L’Aventure ambiguë in 1961, that question emerged from the encounter between African traditions and colonial education.Today, the world is very different. Yet I wonder if the question has become even more relevant. We no longer need to travel to Paris, as Samba Diallo did, to encounter another culture’s ideas. They come to us through universities, global companies, politics, social media, and the internet, and even faster than ever. And now, through artificial intelligence also.

The new school has no walls. As a scientist, I find this exciting. Knowledge crossing boundaries is one of the things I love about science. An idea developed somewhere in the world can inspire an experiment thousands of miles away. I would never want less of that exchange. But globalization and AI also make me wonder: When knowledge becomes global, whose knowledge becomes global? Which languages and histories dominate? Which perspectives are missing? And what might quietly disappear along the way? AI makes these questions particularly interesting because it is increasingly becoming a way through which we encounter knowledge. The question is not simply what AI can tell us. It is whether we will remain thoughtful enough to decide what questions we want to ask.

Artificial Intelligence (Source: IBTimes.co.uk)

We should not simply be consumers of knowledge, but creators of it. Africa has so much to offer, and its story needs to be told as well. In other words, we should be able to say: I want to know what you know without having to become you. And also: I want what I know to become part of what the world knows.

That, to me, is the promise of true globalization. Maybe we are all becoming a little like Samba Diallo now, navigating a world in which knowledge crosses cultural boundaries faster than ever. So perhaps Kane’s question for our generation becomes: How do we embrace the knowledge of the world without losing ourselves, and how do we bring enough of ourselves into that knowledge to make the world richer?

Maybe that is our aventure ambiguë.

So Long to Cheikh Hamidou Kane, and the Ambiguous Adventure

On By Dr. Y.In Great Literature, Great PeopleLeave a comment
Cheikh Hamidou Kane (Source: Wikipedia)

A few days ago, on October 3, Senegal and Africa lost one of its great intellectual voices. Cheikh Hamidou Kane, writer, statesman, and author of L’Aventure ambiguë, died in Dakar at the ripe good age of 98. His passing brought me back to a novel I had to study in school, and which was on the curriculum of most schools across the continent. The question at the heart of his most celebrated novel: How do we open ourselves to the knowledge of the world without losing who we are fundamentally?

Cheikh Hamidou Kane lived this question in many ways. Born in Matam, northern Senegal, in 1928, he descended from a prominent family of traditional Fulani chiefs and muslim scholars. He grew up between Qur’anic teaching and French schooling, later studying law and philosophy in Paris. He returned home before independence and went on to serve Senegal in senior government positions, including as a minister of both  Léopold Sédar Senghor and  Abdou Diouf. He was a good friend of Senegal’s first president  Senghor who was one of his professors while in France, and Mamadou Dia (one of Senghor’s prime minister) whom he tried to reconcile. While in France he met some who would later become leaders in Africa and the Caribbeans, such as Aimé Césaire, Félix Houphouët-Boigny (president of Cote d’Ivoire), Joseph Ki-Zerbo (Burkinabe historian), Abdoulaye Wade (president of Senegal), and many more.

L’Aventure ambiguë de Cheikh Hamidou Kane

Published in 1961, his novel, L’Aventure ambiguë tells the story of Samba Diallo, a young Senegalese man whose education takes him from a deeply spiritual Islamic upbringing to the French school and eventually to Paris. The novel received the Grand Prix littéraire d’Afrique noire in 1962 and went on to be translated into at least 40 languages. But the real journey is not from Senegal to France. It is from one way of understanding the world to another, how to absorb in Samba’s case, Western knowledge without cultural self-erasure. This dichotomy remains relevant to Africa’s current negotiations over money, governance, geopolitical autonomy, and existence as a whole.

That is what I find so moving about Kane’s book. We often think of education as simply gaining knowledge. But Kane asks a harder question: What if learning something new also changes how we understand what we already knew? He doesn’t give us an easy choice between Africa and Europe, tradition and modernity, or faith and reason. Instead, he leaves us with the ambiguity.

Following Kane’s death, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye beautifully captured his legacy as the question of opening ourselves to the world’s knowledge“sans rien perdre de ce que nous sommes“, without losing who we are. More than sixty years later, the question remains. Perhaps that is the mark of a great writer. He doesn’t simply leave us answers. He leaves us questions worth carrying forward. And looking at the world around us today, I wonder whether we are all beginning to live our own aventure ambiguë.

Ibrahim Traoré Opens Burkina Faso’s First State-Owned Gold Refinery

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great People, Great ScienceLeave a comment
President Ibrahim Traoré with Minister of Mines, Yacouba Zabré Gouba inaugurating Burkina Faso’s first state-owned gold refinery (Source: Ecofin)

On Monday, September 28, the President of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré inaugurated the country’s first state-owned gold refinery. We are so proud of Burkina Faso and its people, the land of the men of integrity is building itself step by step, showing us the way forward. The country opened its first gold refinery so it could extract it, refine it on its very own soil, certify it, and benefit from it for the whole pipeline from the soil all the way to the end product that is the gold bar, while creating jobs for its very own people. The refinery is the first of its kind in Burkina Faso, built to the highest international standards for transforming gold into ingots with a purity of 99.99%. It is set to refine 164 tonnes per year at the beginning, growing to at least 500 tonnes of gold later. As I heard the speech of members of the Faso government, I was so proud when they said we will refine our own gold, with our own capacities. The power is shifting! Such an amazing time to be alive! I remember when we kept talking about Thomas Sankara and Burkina Faso on our blog, and how some were laughing… today, we are proud of Burkina Faso, and we never stopped being proud of Sankara’s brothers and sisters. La patrie ou la mort, nous vaincrons! This reminds us of what Sankara talked about, “The National Economy: Independent, Self-Sufficient, and Planned at the Service of Democratic and Popular Society” in “We are Heirs of the World’s Revolutions, Speeches from the Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87” .

Extracts below are from TeleSur. Enjoy!

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President Ibrahim Traoré highlighted the strategic importance of this initiative, which aims to control the entire value chain of the extractive industry, starting with gold.

The refinery, inaugurated this Monday, is expected to generate more wealth, create jobs, and improve the control of domestic financial flows.

“In everything related to the extractive industry, we want to have the entire value chain under control, and we are starting with gold,” Traoré emphasized. “As I mentioned before, there are many other metals in our subsurface that we want to extract, but we want to control everything down to the smallest detail,” he added.

Traoré stressed that Burkina Faso’s gold should be processed and certified within the country. “Refining gold in our territory will generate more wealth, create qualified jobs, strengthen the traceability of our production, and improve control over financial flows. Additionally, it will enable us to combat illicit practices more effectively, such as fraud, smuggling, and money laundering,” he stated.

…

“Be Ready to Fight for Freedom” Bassolma Bazie

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Flag of Burkina Faso

In a recent speech in front of the Burkinabe troops, Minister Bassolma Bazié warned the troops, and all of us by extension, against complacency, fear, treachery, and incompetence. He warned us against being used by the enemy to betray our nations. He reminded us of the French General Rochambeau and how he punished the Haitian slaves who dared fight for freedom. He reminded us that because we stood up against the West, we should be ready, anytime for the enemy’s wrath, and we should be ready to protect our freedom, and that of our children. We should not succumb to “The Cancer of Betrayal” as Amilcar Cabral called it. Stay alert all the time.

Flag of Haiti

Fear, treachery and incompetence are very serious evils at the level of a nation. So let’s make sure that tomorrow, what we are experiencing [today], our children will not come to experience it. In any case, I said that the people have climbed on an explosive device and its fragmentation, if we don’t pay attention, if we behave like imbeciles, even our children who are not yet born, they will suffer the blow. … Look on your phones at the story of Haiti 1803 and the dogs of [Donatien de] Rochambeau the French … when France returned to repress those who tried to revolt, what did they do? It is this single example that I take to show what awaits us if we are not careful. Rochambeau arrived there with a hundred dogs that he had initially taken weeks to starve, and once in Haiti, he took one of the slaves and tied him to a post in the center and made a circle around the city… he used pliers to tear the slave so that the blood would flow… people were eaten alive like that by dogs screaming until they died.  Let everyone understand that what Rochambeau did in Haiti, Norbert Zongo said, “people carry suitcases, … they are not far away”, it has happened… What he [Rochambeau] did in Haiti… if we are not careful, whether we are military, civilian, or VDP, and the enemy goes through us to penetrate the country, there [in Haiti] it was dogs that ate them, for us it is not obvious that we will even have the opportunity to be watched being eaten alive… and that is what they are preparing for us… and as they are preparing this, all of us who are in action must consider that our future, I am not saying that it is over, but we are standing on top of embers so that our children do not experience the same thing, because if we do not assume our history [and take responsibility], the tears of the children we have given birth to will join us in the cemetery. …May God and the manes of the ancestors accompany us…. Our words, our behavior, our gestures, … should respond to true patriotism…

Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso

La peur, la traîtrise et l’incompétence sont des maux très graves au niveau d’une nation. Donc faisons en sorte que demain, ce que nous vivons, nos enfants ne viennent pas le vivre. De toutes les façons, j’ai dit que le peuple est monté sur un engin explosif et sa fragmentation, si on s’amuse, si on se comporte comme des imbéciles, même nos enfants qui ne sont pas encore nés, ils vont subir le coup. … Regardez sur vos téléphones, l’histoire de Haïti 1803 et les chiens de Daniel Rochambeau … quand la France est revenue pour reprimer ceux qui ont tenté de se révolter, qu’est-ce-qu’ils ont fait? c’est ce seul exemple que je prends pour montrer ce qui nous guette si on s’amuse. Rochambeau a debarqué là-bas avec une centaine de chiens qu’il avait d’abord mis des semaines à affamer, et une fois à Haïti, on prend un des esclaves qu’on attache sur un poteau au centre et on fait un cercle au niveau de la ville… on a utilisé des tenailles pour déchirer l’esclave afin que le sang descende … des gens ont été mangés comme ça par des chiens en criant jusqu’à aller mourir. Que chacun comprenne que ce que Rochambeau a fait en Haiti là, Norbert Zongo avait dit « les gens transportent les valises, ils ne sont pas loin ! C’est arrivé »… ce qu’il a fait a Haiti… si on s’amuse, que l’on soit militaire, civile, ou VDP, que l’ennemi passe par lui pour pénétrer le pays, eux c’est des chiens qui les ont mangé, nous ce n’est pas evident qu’on aura même l’occasion d’être regardé en train d’être mangé… et c’est ça qu’ils sont en train de préparer… et comme ils sont en train de préparer ça, nous tous qui sommes en action, on doit considérer que notre avenir-là, je ne dis pas que c’est cuit, mais nous sommes sur des braises pour que nos enfants ne vivent pas la même chose, parce que si on ne s’assume pas devant notre histoire les pleurs des enfants qu’on a mis au monde vont nous rejoindre au cimétière. … Que Dieu et les mânes des ancêtres nous accompagnent…. Il faudrait que nos propos, notre comportements, nos gestes, … répondent au véritable patriotisme…

Simone Gbagbo, First Lady of Cote d’Ivoire, and Presidential Candidate Forgives France for its Complicity

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Simone Ehivet Gbagbo
Simone Ehivet Gbagbo

There are no words to express my joy at seeing and hearing former first lady of Cote d’Ivoire, and presidential candidate, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo speak during her first visit to France in almost 20 years. It is no secret what Simone Gbagbo endured at the hands of her captors, many of whom acted as proxies for France during the 2010 post‑electoral crisis that shook the country. She was paraded before cameras for the whole world to see as she was abused by forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, all under the watchful eyes of French soldiers, journalists, and diplomats. It is even said that she was violated in her intimacy, and those present did absolutely nothing (Laurent Gbagbo: Non au Silence Complice! Free at Last: Simone Gbagbo Liberated, Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude: Totally Acquitted and Free at Last). I remember how the mainstream media mocked her and placated her images nonstop as if she was not a human being. She was then thrown in jail for several years, during which many of us prayed for her well-being. In 2018 she was finally released from jail. She reinstated her party, created a new one, and re-entered the political life of her country under the gaze of the very people jailers and tormentors. She even ran last year in the presidential election which, without surprise was won by Alassane Ouattara.

During her recent interview with France24, one theme stood out: forgiveness. Simone said she forgave Alassane Ouattara, and if she could forgive him, why would she not forgive France? I applaud Mama Simone Gbagbo’s spirit! And I understand that forgiveness is necessary for her survival and peace of mind.

It is no secret that Africans often forgive easily, even as others continue to hurt and exploit us. If we choose to forgive, we must not forget. We should never forget. That is how we build. Something happened! And although we forgive, we must never return to that place. It cannot be an endless cycle in which others harm us without consequence.

Please enjoy, Simone Ehivet Gbagbo and applaud with me this woman who exemplifies resilience, elegance, and the calm strength of a Black woman. We all can see why the French never liked her!

“Angola” by Cesária Évora

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great Music, Great PeopleLeave a comment
The album titled 'Cesaria Evora'
The album titled ‘Cesaria Evora’

We talked about Fortaleza de São Miguel in Luanda, Angola, a major slave fort of Angola which today has been turned into a museum and stood the test of times, and show the resilience of the Angolan people and their love of life in spite of adversities. Cesária Évora, the barefoot diva, Cape Verde’s national diva sang “Angola.” As this fortress, she had a breakthrough after years of disappointment, she never gave up. She exemplified endurance, strength, confidence, and perseverance. Just like her song “Angola” is a tribute to the wisdom, resilience, joy, and cultural strength of the Angolan people, celebrating how they endure hardship, war, and colonial trauma while still finding community, patience, and pleasure in life. It’s like a mirror of her life, as if Cesária is singing of her life, and of the beautiful country of Angola, and the resilience of its people.

The repeated line “Angóla, Angóla, oi, ke pove sábe” means: “Angola, Angola, oh, what a wise people.” This is the emotional anchor of the song. She is praising: Angolan wisdom, Angolan strength, Angolan endurance through the civil war which devastated their country and live, Angolan cultural richness, and joy.

Flag of Angola
Flag of Angola

The song emphasizes that Angolans have endured wars, colonial violence, and hardship, yet remain strong and united. Words like konvivénsia (coexistence), pasiénsia (patience), and rezisténsia (resistance) reinforce this.

The line, “Es vida sábe ke nhos ta vivê / Paródia dia i note manxê, sen maka ma ku sabura” celebrate living life intensely, to the fullest, dancing, laughing, enjoying community, even through life’s difficulties.

New Attacks and Mutiny at the International Hamani Diori Airport in Niger

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Map of Niger

Today, August 29, there was a mutiny at the Base 101 in Niamey, Niger. Mutinous soldiers launched coordinated attacks on both the Diori Hamani International Airport and the city center around the presidential compound in Niamey early Saturday, unleashing hours of gunfire and explosions that briefly knocked the state TV and radio off the air. This is clearly an attack against the government of General Abdourahamane Tiani, who has defied the French and Western stranglehold on the country. Recall that Air Force Base 101 is located within the international airport complex, and is home to the headquarters of Niamey’s Russian Africa Corps partners and the command of the unified force of the Alliance of Sahel States (Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali). So this is a direct attack against the AES.

By late morning, the Niger’s defense ministry said loyalist forces were gradually regaining control of targeted sites, though mutineers remained active around the airport. Witnesses reported heavy pre‑dawn fighting, and security sources noted that troops from Ouallam, Tera, and Dosso, areas hit hard by Islamic State–linked insurgents, were involved in the assault, reflecting growing frustration within frontline units. Security forces were deployed to key locations. A resident stated, “The weapons we’re hearing are not the kind that terrorists on motorbikes can carry. The fighting has been non-stop since last night.” We all know who is behind these new attacks.

President Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger

Let us all pray and support our brothers and sisters of Niger. These mark the third attacks against the government of Tiani since the beginning of this year. As we remain alert, we are also reminded that such attacks against Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, is because the Niger people and Tiani’s government are really fighting for the freedom of their people, and the Black race as a whole. This explains the violence and repeated attacks funded by the Western powers against Niger and the AES. They, the West, have not unleashed anything against those dictators who play in their hands like the 93-year-old president of another African country who has plundered the nation’s wealth, or its neighbors, or even the other puppet from Cote d’Ivoire. The battle is now, and as we are proud of our Niger brothers and sisters, we stand with them, and can all do a little like them so that bit by bit we will free our continent of the barbaric chokehold of the imperialist forces.

To read more, check out NBC, RFI, and Africanews.

Angélique Kidjo is the First African Singer Honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

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Angelique Kidjo in front of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Source: RFI.fr)

Last Tuesday, five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo made history by becoming the first African musician to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Let me repeat that: the first African musician to be honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Africa is the cradle of humanity and the birthplace of music, so it is both surprising and shocking that this recognition took so long.

We congratulate Angélique Kidjo, who told the BBC that she wanted to dedicate the accolade to the continent of her birth. The Franco Beninese icon stated: “This star is for all the continent of Africa. Because if I was not African, would I be here?”

With a career spanning four decades, she reminded the world of the essential role Africans have played in shaping global music: “Without the blues brought by the slaves in America, there is no R&B, there is no rock and roll, there is no soul music, there is no jazz. All of it comes from Africa.”

Angelique Kidjo

She told BBC Focus on Africa that Africans must appreciate what they have given the world and invest in nurturing talent at home: “Let us celebrate our artists in their own right on the continent. Let us give them visibility and strength, because music creates economy.” Kidjo also urged African artists and governments to find ways to ensure that artists are paid royalties for their work and that their intellectual property is respected.

During the celebration, she remembered her roots and her late parents. She shared that she wished they could have been present to witness her success.

Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, praised Kidjo’s impact: “She has connected cultures, she has crossed borders, she has reminded audiences everywhere that while we may come from different backgrounds, her music unites in a way that few other things can.”

Congratulations to Angélique Kidjo, whose four-decade career has carried her across the world, sharing her voice and enriching countless lives. I am grateful that I once had the chance to see her perform, at a time when she was not yet widely known on this side of the Atlantic, and witness greatness.

Cameroon Wins the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the First Time in History

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Cameroon Indomitable Lionesses celebrate winning WAFCON 2026 (Source: CAFonline.com)

On Sunday, August 16, 2026, in Rabat, Morocco, Cameroon defeated Malawi 3–0 to become the new Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) champion. It was a historic final that felt instantly unforgettable. Neither team had ever won the trophy before, and this made it only the third WAFCON final since 1998 where both sides were chasing their first continental crown. Cameroon had already reached the final in 2004, 2014, and 2016 but lost each time to Nigeria. Malawi, on the other hand, was living a dream. This was their first participation at WAFCON, and they climbed all the way to the final after eliminating teams such as Ghana and Algeria.

The Chawinga sisters Tabitha and Temwa (Source: CAFonline.com)

This expanded edition of WAFCON began three weeks ago with 16 teams instead of the previous 12, and it delivered excitement from the opening whistle. Malawi, led by the lethal Chawinga sisters Tabitha and Temwa, made a sensational debut. They started with a stunning 3–2 victory over defending champions Nigeria, followed by a confident 3–1 win over Egypt to finish top of Group C despite a narrow 2–1 loss to Zambia. Their momentum carried into the knockout rounds where they defeated Ghana 2–1 in the quarter-finals and produced another commanding performance to beat Algeria 3–1 in the semi-finals.

Marie Ngah Manga celebrating one of her goals (Source: CAFonline.com)

Cameroon’s journey was a story of discipline, resilience, and redemption. The Indomitable Lionesses went through the group stage unbeaten, then eliminated 10-time champions Nigeria in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, they knocked out host nation Morocco in a tense 3–1 penalty shootout thanks to an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Michaely Bihina who had a superb tournament from start to finish. Cameroon’s defense was rock solid and conceded only two goals throughout the entire competition. Their triumph becomes even more remarkable when you consider that they missed the 2024 edition of WAFCON and only advanced to these finals because of their world ranking after CAF expanded the tournament from 12 to 16 teams.

The final itself belonged entirely to Cameroon. Marie Ngah Manga scored twice and was named Best Player of the Final, and Naomi Ndjoah Eto added the third goal to seal the victory. With this title, Cameroon becomes the fourth nation to lift the WAFCON trophy, joining Nigeria’s Super Falcons, South Africa’s Banyana Banyana, and Equatorial Guinea. It was a spectacular ending to a spectacular tournament. Congratulations to the 2026 WAFCON. Both teams are already qualified for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.