Global music star, Akon, will host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw on Thursday, October 12, 2023.

The group stage draw will start at 19h00 local time/GMT (21h00 CAT, 22h00 Cairo) at the breath-taking, brand-new Parc Des Expositions venue in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and be beamed live on CAF TV (YouTube). 

The Senegalese hitmaker is a huge football fan and social activist whose ‘Akon Lighting Africa’ project seeks to use solar electricity to help African countries meet their basic electricity needs.

Akon’s hosting of the group stage, alongside Touré, adds even more star power to what is set to be a glitzy, glamorous, eagerly anticipated occasion, as the 24 qualified nations discover their group stage opponents.

The draw will be beamed in over 50 countries, with millions of viewers expected to tune in to the event on CAF’s Official YouTube channel, as well as across CAF’s Global TV partners.  

The 34th edition of the biggest event on African soil takes place in Cote d’Ivoire from 13 January to 11 February 2024.

The Qualified Nations for the Final Draw: 

Cote d’Ivoire (hosts), Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo DR, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zambia