President Akufo-Addo ( 4th from right), Patrice Evra (4th from left), and members of the delegation in a photograph after the meeting at the Jubilee House
President Akufo-Addo sees former French national team and Manchester United football club captain, Patrice Evra, as a powerful ambassador for the African continent.
That, he said, was not only evident in the quality of his play, but the strength of his personality and commitment to help change the continent.
This was when Evra, a retired footballer who is now into coaching, paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House yesterday.
The Senegalese born football star is in the Ghana in collaboration with an organisation called Chipper Cash, to rally support for the upcoming World Cup and raise funds for fans to go and support their countries in the soccer tourney scheduled for Doha in November.
Chipper Cash is a venture-capital-backed financial technology company that builds software to enable free and instant peer-to-peer cross-border payments in Africa and Europe; as well as solutions for businesses and merchants to process online and in-store payments.
Evra, who has already been to Senegal, Cameroun and Nigeria, has dedicated himself to change the image of Africa from a poverty-stricken continent to one where the youth would have the confidence to stay within its walls and make it in life.
For President Akufo-Addo, it is therefore encouraging that the likes of Evra, despite all the successes they have chalked, continue to have the commitment for the collective welfare of Africa, noting that “It is reassuring and a tremendous example for all the young people.”
Evra noted that though he was born in Dakar, he played for France because during his early ages he was given the option to select his national team, so he decided to play for France because he grew up there.
“But I understood the politics later; when you win you are a French, but when you lose you are a Senegalese player,” he added.
He said though the image of Africa was shrouded by poverty, it was however endowed with a lot of talents, deep creativity and rich resources.
“I am not here only with Chipper Cash but also here to interact with people to enhance the image of Africa,” he said and added that he had also embarked on a project dubbed ‘Ending Violence Against Children’ and to advance that he would soon be having discussions with the leadership of the World Health Organisation.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu