Mr. Austin Ufomba, the Chief Executive Officer of Ultimum Limited, the company producing Razzl, the exclusive Official Soft Drink of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), has described Côte d’Ivoire’s opening ceremony of the ongoing tournament as world-class.
Ufomba was amongst the 60,000 full capacity football fans, partners and sponsors that witnessed the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2023 AFCON inside the brand new Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara in Ebimpe, Abidjan on Saturday.
“I was amongst those who witnessed the opening ceremony last Saturday and in my own opinion, this stadium and the event itself was world-class. And like the Confederation of Africa Football, CAF, President, Patrice Motsepe said, it is the best so far in the history of AFCON,” began the Razzl drinks CEO in Nigeria.
He described the event in Abidjan as an opportunity to bring the whole of Africa together. “It is a great opportunity to bring the whole of Africa together. Anything that can bring Africa together to celebrate is a worthy cause. And AFCON has proved to be that platform to bring Africa together to celebrate as one.”
Ufomba stressed that the Razzl advertisement “resonate with this point of celebrating, about inspiring one Africa, about inspiring one continent and football. This is all that Razzl is all about.”
He therefore stressed that it was this philosophy that inspires Razzl to partner CAF to celebrate African football. “We as soft drink gives all that go with celebration. It is our role to be an African brand, the big African soft drink. This is why also we undertake the role of partnering this big African platform to be the best in the continent. We are just six months in the market wether in Cameroon, Nigeria or Côte d’Ivoire. We have conquered the key things whether it is Cola, Orange, Grenadine, Lemon or Pamplemousse, we have conquered the soda market.”
On Super Eagles draw against Equatorial Guinea yesterday, Ufomba said it was nothing bad as football in Africa and elsewhere has evolve beyond just a few teams dominating the space. “This is a tournament of diverse things. I love the competitiveness of the game and the surprises. Let the best team win, not the biggest name. In my view this match between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea that ended 1-1 was a great game. Although as a Nigerian, it is natural that I want Super Eagles to win.”
The Razzl CEO however insisted that success about preparation and the drive to succeed. If Super Eagles want to win this tournament, they need to go and do more work, more practice together and if they play as a team, they can win the next game and perhaps, qualify from Group A. It is still too early in the day to think otherwise. They still have six points to play for in the group. If you ask me if Super Eagles have what it takes to be amongst the Top 3 teams of this tournament,I will say absolutely, yes.”
