The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has chosen Gabon to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

The final draw came down to bids from Algeria, Ghana, and Gabon, but the Confederation’s executive committee decided on our West African neighbours.

Gabon co-hosted the tournament with Equatorial Guinea in 2012, and has now also earned sole hosting rights after the Equato-Guineans also hosted the 2015 edition.

Libya was initially scheduled to host, but political unrest threw them out of the running. Ghana and Algeria, both bigger economies, would not be so pleased with losing to Gabon.

For us the citizens though, it is a piece of good news. This country is littered with enough problems that aren’t being fixed; who needs the government plunging millions into a tournament when daily life is such a struggle to get through.

After all, hosting in 2008 didn’t really bring any of the benefits we thought it would.

CAF are carrying out the draw for 2017 qualification as well, and we’ll bring you that as soon as it’s done.