Source: Africanews

More than 48 millions French voters will cast their ballot on Sunday. They will choose the two candidates who shall face each other in the second round of the French presidential race. Ileana Santos is one of the many French citizens who have multiple cultures. The French and Togolese entrepreneur has launched a public policy incubator dedicated to strengthening Africa-Europe relations. She will vote for the first time on Sunday and tells Africanews how her cultural heritage influences her social commitment.

French voters often cite purchasing power, health or climate change as some of the pressing issues they take into account when casting their ballot. Does your dual culture makes you more alert to additional issues?

Ileana Santos: We all share the same concerns. After almost two years in this Covid-crisis, it is normal for any citizen to look for ways to improve the quality of our environment in order to prevent the spread of diseases. Similarly, purchasing power is a central issue. The conflict in Ukraine, and before that the pandemic, have both been factors which contributed to the increase in energy and food prices despite government aid.

In truth, it is not my dual culture which makes me interested in different social issues. It is first a matter of interest and skills. My background and my commitments bring my attention to issues related to the youth, the promotion of volunteering, employment, the European development and the Africa-Europe relations.

Would you consider that the Africa-Europe relations were widely talked about during the presidential race?

Ileana Santos: I wouldn’t say I heard much about this issue during the campaign. Rather, I have noticed a lack of knowledge on the part of some candidates on this very subject or a lack of interest … which is a pity. I have been working on these issues for almost two years. In my opinion, we have taken a good course and we must continue to move forward to achieve results. Because that’s precisely what people are waiting for: results!

How does your special connection to Togo, and Africa at large, nurture your social commitment?

Ileana Santos: I was born and raised in Lomé. I always saw my parents giving their time for others, getting involved in associations. Somehow, I was inspired by these models. Through my experiences in civic service, internships and mentoring, I had the opportunity to do volunteer work in India, in Dakar, in the United States and in Canada. All this made me who I am today. Commitment allows you to take part in a collective adventure and to work for a common goal. It also gives the opportunity to acquire new skills. The path I started walking in Lomé is the one I am continuing here and my bicultural identity is an asset for France, contrary to what some people may say. And I am proud to repeat it again and again.

You made up an word ‘afro-optimism’, what does it mean to be afro-optimistic?

Ileana Santos: Afro-optimism denotes action! It always refers to the pair of words action/result and in our public policy incubator, we are diverse. Therefore, we must not restrict the discussion around the Africa-Europe relations to Africans and Europeans alone. Everyone has the right to take part in the debate in order to link up companies, to seek capital and I believe in a mutually beneficial economic axis. I am French and Togolese, I am a bridge and I belong to my two continents. My role is therefore to be able, through my two cultures and with other young people like me, to put our skills to use. When we come back from different African countries, we are inspired by what happens there, by the innovations and ways of thinking and we can try to replicate them here.

The ‘material’ that we take from the field is essential. In other words, when you have the opportunity and the responsibility to talk to decision-makers, you come with theoretical things of course, but you also have the report of lived-experiences of the people you met in the field. And I do this on both sides of the Mediterranean, downstairs at my house, at the baker’s in Paris and in Lomé. Thanks to this, you are anchored in reality because we don’t all experience the same realities. Then it’s up to me to formalise them and pass on messages to transform ideas into public policies. This is also a mission I am give myself.

To which future to you dedicate your efforts?

Ileana Santos: A future with win-win relations for Africa and Europe. For me, it means that we’ve managed to direct the financing we have where they are actually needed, that we’ve managed to encourage the private sector to invest in large infrastructure projects and not expect everything from the states and institutions… I have an economic outlook, but this is what I am aiming for when I commit myself. I was recently rereading Kwame Nkrumah’s book Africa must unite and that’s what I’m waiting for, a New Deal Africa makes with itself. The youth must also take their part because if the leaders are not up to the task, as citizens we can be up to the challenge of history and what humanity expects of us. Africa is going to save itself and Europe can accompany it in this dynamic. Who else but us, who have two cultures, can be the bridges between the continents?

What would you say to young voters or anyone who isn’t sure to go cast their ballot on Sunday?

Ileana Santos: I would share my own history. Voting on Sunday will be the first time I vote in a presidential election in France and I value what a chance it is to live in a democratic country, to be able to express a voice which you are sure, guaranteed, will be respected. When we see the war on our doorstep in Ukraine, we can be shaken and rightly so and pursue citizen participation. If we don’t vote and therefore decide, others will do it for us and we won’t be able to complain. Voting is also about making a list of choices: for our daily lives, how we see it, what we want to see happen over the next five years. Do we want better wages, what do we want in terms of a sustainability transition, what do we expect from social justice…? I have already made my choice.

Source: Africanews

An atmosphere of enthusiasm reigns at “La Finca”, the cathedral of boxing in Cuba, where “Los Domadores” are training intensively for their upcoming professional debut. “It was what we were waiting for a long time,” says their captain, Julio Cesar La Cruz.

Cuban authorities gave the green light this week for Cuban boxers to participate in the professional circuits for the first time since 1962, under the tutelage of the local federation, and at the National Boxing School (La Finca) on the outskirts of Havana, the announcement was revitalising.

“He came to make us all happy and to give satisfaction to the whole boxing family,” Rolando Acebal, 64, who has been at the helm of the “flagship” of Cuban sport, owner of 80 world and 41 Olympic titles, told AFP.

For 32-year-old La Cruz, a two-time Olympian and five-time world champion, the news came “at the right time”. “It’s going to be something beautiful, special and historic,” he added, bathed in sweat, after almost three hours of sparring.

The “dancer” Andy Cruz (26), who won his first Olympic title at Tokyo 2020, is also “happy” because he will now be able to compete against “the best boxers in the world” in his category.

But there is another compelling reason to celebrate. According to the Cuban Boxing Federation, the fighters will receive 80 per cent of the income from each bout.

“This economic bonus will be very useful because many of us have families,” says two-time Olympic champion Arlen Lopez, father of two children, as the country faces its worst economic crisis in almost 30 years, due to the impact of the pandemic and the strengthening of the US embargo.

– The ring heats up –

Professional sport was abolished in Cuba by Fidel Castro’s revolution, which encouraged the development of amateurism and brought the tiny island to the world’s elite in some disciplines. In 2013, a timid comeback began with indirect formulas in sports such as baseball, in search of new forms of financing.

After five decades of non-professional practice, the local squad managed to adapt quickly to semi-professional boxing in the World Series (WSB), in which it debuted in 2014 with the “Los Domadores” franchise. He won three of the five editions in which he competed, including the last one, held in 2018.

Acebal is confident that there will also be no problems with the “adaptation” to the paid boxing that, in addition to disputing a greater number of rounds, is characterised by being more offensive and by a more forceful punching.

“We are already in preparation and these issues are being trained,” he says, as he guides the training, which López considers “double” the usual amount.

Above all, he does not lose sight of the five boxers (La Cruz, Andy, López, Yoenlis Feliciano and Lázaro Álvarez) who will participate in Cuba’s professional debut next May in Mexico, according to the contract signed with the Mexican company Golden Ring Promotions.

– WBA opens its doors –

The joy of the announced opening went beyond the island’s borders.

“This is great news for professional boxing”, because “Cuba is a factory of champions”, said the president of the Spanish Boxing Federation, Felipe Martinez, who is accompanying a group of fighters from his country who are training at La Finca with a view to Paris 2024.

For his part, Luis Mariano Gonzalez, Cuban coach of the team that France is putting together for these games and who is also training on the island, considered that “it is a step that will raise the level of Cuban boxing even higher”.

The World Boxing Association (WBA), one of the four most important entities in professional boxing, opened “its doors” to the Cubans after learning of the agreement with Golden Rings Promotions.

“I think it’s a new opportunity for Cuban boxers who live in their country,” said its president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, according to the Association’s website, which has been the home of great Cuban fighters who left the island to try their luck in professional boxing, among them Yuriorkis Gamboa, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Luis Ortiz.

In fact, Acebal believes that the opening up of professional boxing could halt this exodus, which reached its most recent episode in March when boxers Kevin Brown and Herich Ruiz left the Cuban delegation participating in the Pan American Championships in Ecuador.

“If you’re a little bit intelligent, you won’t need to leave,” he says.

The question now on the minds of boxing fans is whether the US embargo, which has been in place since 1962, will allow Cuban champions to participate in the main professional boxing events, which are usually organised in the United States.

Source: Africanews