Disgrace: Early Closure of ‘Africa Village’

By Danielle Lobito

The village's French organisers and British suppliers are understood to have been locked in a stand-off over the non-payment of bills believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The Guardian

It was the first time that ‘53 African national Olympic Committees’ came together to form the ‘Africa Village’ in an Olympic Games. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disaster and monumental disgrace because it was closed with the allegation of £395,000 ‘unpaid debts’, before the end of the Olympics. A lot of people missed the village in Kensington Gardens, West London. It reportedly had around 80,000 visitors before the closure, last Wednesday.

According to Vox Africa (Sky Channel – 218), the Batswana committee could not host Botswana Day on the day the village was closed. Tunisians also missed their day which was supposed to follow Botswana Day at the £2.4 million project aka ‘Africa Village’. Neither did the Ethiopian committee get the chance to host its cultural event on Saturday.

The early closure of 'Africa Village' was unfair on countries billed to entertain visitors, and showcase their cultural heritage, and the proposed visitors who had planned to visit the village on specific days. London 2012 Olympic Games will end today with USA, China and Great Britain leading with medals. The next Summer Olympic Games will take place in 2016 and the host city is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Why not hire a translator?


… tribal marks?

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