South Africa's marketing strategies towards major African regional economic players: the case of the 2010 FIFA World Cup –was it truly an African event?

This article critically examines the effect and the dynamics of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in relation to major African regional economic players. It was conducted with an assumption that the branding of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as „Africa‟s Time‟, „Africa‟s moment‟, and „Africa‟s turn‟ to the benefit of the continent would be viewed with pessimism, at least by the (Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria) major African regional economic players, as an event that did not benefit the continent as a whole but South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. This article used phenomenological strategy under qualitative methods whereby face to face interviews were conducted from a sample drawn from the pool of diplomatic community and the staff of relevant Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Inter-Governmental Organisations (IGOs) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The results revealed that an event was a tremendous boost to the pride and confidence of Africa and its people. Credit should be given to South Africa for taking the leading role in marketing an event as African and not as South African. Such marketing strategy did not only ensure African ownership but instilled the sense of African pride