At a star-studded 2024 CAF Awards in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday Africa’s best performers for the year were honoured.
The CAF President Outstanding Achievement Award went to Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. The award was picked up by Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports Tarek Shawki on behalf of the president.
Egypt’s Ahly was voted the Men’s Club of the Year after winning their fourth CAF Champions League in five years, adding to their record 12 titles. TP Mazembe took home the Women’s Club of the Year.
Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman, Zambia striker Barbra Banda and South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams were also big winners, according to CAFonline. Lookman was named CAF Men’s Player of the Year after a sensational 12 months with Italian side Atalanta and Nigeria’s Super Eagles. He follows in the footsteps of compatriot Victor Osimhen who claimed the award in 2023.
It is the first time Nigeria has had back-to-back winners in the men’s award since Nwankwo Kanu (1996) and Victor Ikpeba (1997) were honoured almost three decades ago.
Banda, the CAF Women’s Player of the Year, took the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League season in the United States by storm as she helped Orlando Pride to the NWSL Shield and Championship, scoring the decisive goal in the final against Washington Spirit.
She scored a hat-trick for Zambia at the Paris Olympics 2024 and became the first player from Africa to be included in the FIFPRO Women’s World 11 in 2024.
Instead of the traditional three nominees for the best player award, there were five given the closeness of the voting among the coaches and captains of African national teams.
Williams was the only double winner on the night, collecting the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year and Men’s Interclub Player of the Year awards.
His spectacular penalty saves at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire 2023 will long be remembered, including four in the quarter-final shootout win against Cape Verde as he captained South Africa to the bronze medal.
The 32-year-old helped his club Mamelodi Sundowns set a joint record low of just 11 goals conceded in 30 games in the South African Premiership as they eased to a seventh domestic league title in succession.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 19 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly