TANZANIA, Sept. 27 -- SOME people wake up every morning with one important assignment: to locate African sunshine and rush there carrying a bucket of darkness.

Give them good news, and they immediately ask who will print the funeral programme.

Tell them East Africa will host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and they look at you as though somebody has served pilau without meat, kachumbari or even an apology.

So, when Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda were awarded AFCON 2027 under the beautiful banner of Pamoja, the usual “Africa cannot do it” committee reported for duty early.

They signed the attendance register, adjusted the microphone and began clearing their throats. East Africa? Hosting AFCON? Three countries? One tournament? To...