CAF hires Roland Berger to review infrastructure of AFCON 2019

Following a withdrawal from global professional services firm PwC, the task of auditing and infrastructure for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2019 in Cameroon has been awarded to Roland Berger. The selection comes after a tender was called, which drew bids from a number of firms across the world.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has turned to the consulting industry to help prepare for AFCON 2019. The tournament, which was due to take place in January two years from now, has already been postponed to June/July of the same year after the country was found in a state of unpreparedness.

Last year, President of CAF Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad declared that the country would not be ready, following a visit to the planned areas of action. A week before an inspection trip to the country this August, Big Four accounting and advisory firm PwC announced its withdrawal from the project, which further dealt a blow to the country’s prospects.

As a result, the CAF invited bids for the contract, and have selected Roland Berger to assist with organising the event. The consulting firm will conduct a comprehensive organisational audit, as well as an inspection of the infrastructural capability in the host nation before the tournament in 2019.

In addition, the firm has been assigned the duty of auditing and inspecting the CAF Centers of Excellence (COEs), which operate across Cameroon, Ethiopia and Senegal. The COEs host training and development workshops and seminars across these countries, with the primary objective of promoting football on the continent.

Currently, Roland Berger’s presence in Africa is limited to Casablanca in Morocco, where it established an office in 2008. The firm will send a team to Cameroon in weeks to come to oversee the auditing activities.