Abedi Pele, one of the great pioneers of Africa football, is travelling around Africa with the Afcon Trophy - taking soccer to the people. Standard Bank is sponsoring this tour - below is Abedi's account of his recent travels on the continent:

I am back in my second home and feeling re-energised about the Standard/Stanbic Bank Trophy Tour.

I arrived in the Uganda capital last night, where I had a quick chat with the waiting press and then got much needed rest at the plush Serena Hotel before getting the show on the road this morning.

First stop was the Ugandan Parliament, and I was honoured to present the trophy to the Speaker Edward Sekandi, an honourable man who was joined in the ceremony by several Ugandan Members of Parliament.
Never mind all the flashing cameras, I was taken in by the words of the soft-spoken speaker, especially the revelation that the Ugandan government was waiving all taxes on sports equipment. I assured the parliamentarians that in the future they would see just how good a decision they made.

We presented a kind token of appreciation to the Speaker from Stanbic Bank and after some group photos on the steps of the parliament building, it was time to take the trophy to the people.

The fanfare started at the National Theatre in the centre of Kampala City, here is where the trophy took its place atop an open truck brought to life by blaring music, a difficult-to-ignore DJ and some very pretty and colorfully dressed dancers.

The stops included Stanbic Bank branches where I addressed the bank’s customers and several other people attracted by the procession, and the biggest gathering was understandably at a university campus in Kyambogo.

The autograph seekers appeared in their hundreds, and at each stop my message was the same. I hoped and believed that getting up close and personal with the trophy, as opposed to seeing it on television once every two years, would motivate Ugandans to want to compete for it again like they used to in the good old days.

After the road trip, it was time for the first press conference and a media gathering much larger than usual, had the opportunity to hear what the Stanbic MD, myself and the bank’s Local Ambassador Mark Ssali, a former player and journalist quite famous in Uganda had to say. Ssali is popularly referred to as the ‘moving encyclopedia on sports’.

Then came the general Q & A session followed by several one-on-one interviews with various media houses, before we headed for an afternoon trip to two popular FM radio stations.

91.3 Capital FM has an amazingly hilarious DJ, Alex Ndawula. He joked about everything from a Vegeboom advert I did in the early nineties to the genesis of my Pele name. On the Touchdown Show hosted by local ambassador Ssali on 104.1 Power FM, the lines were opened for listeners who asked about everything from the problems and challenges facing African football, to the conduct of Emmanuel Adebayor and the standard of refereeing in the English Premiership!

To crown it all, there was a cocktail for Stanbic Bank staff in the evening which coincided with the kick-off of the U-20 World Cup final between Ghana and Brazil.

Sitting in front of a giant screen with several hundred Ugandans offering very vocal support, I watched my son Andre Ayew lead his teammates to a historic victory after a tense 120 minutes and a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Phew, what a day!

For more information on the Ugandan tour, see:
http://www.blog.standardbank.com/sponsorship/uganda-trophy-tour-day-2
http://www.blog.standardbank.com/sponsorship/uganda-trophy-tour-day-3