This year’s edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will see new coaches and new teams being tested, all aiming to make it to the top four of the competition in order to qualify for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Some of these coaches don’t have continental competition experience but none lack the confidence of progressing past the group stages at the competition hosted in Morocco.
GROUP A
Morocco
Reynald Pedros
Pedros took over as head coach of the Moroccan side in 2020 and has led the Atlas Lionesses to eight wins out of 10 matches since taking charge. His experience in France with Olympique Lyonnais Féminin where he led the team to its 12th and 13th French league titles and the third and fourth UEFA Women's Champions League will come in handy. He was also named the 2018 Best FIFA Women's Coach winner, this experience will go a long way for the Lionesses to get to glory on home soil.
Burkina Faso
Pascal Sawadogo
Sawadogo was appointed the head coach of the Burkinabes in November 2021 taking over the reins from Adama Dembéle in the middle of the Women’s Afron qualifiers. He was able to lead the side to their maiden Women’s Afcon after thrashing Guinea Bissau 6-0 on aggregate to book a ticket to Morocco. Sawadogo will be hoping his side will be the surprise package at the tournament and qualify for the next round in the competition.
Senegal
Mame Moussa Cisse
In his second stint with the team, Cisse finally proved his credentials and helped qualify the team for only its third appearance to the tournament with their last showing being the 2012 edition which was held in Equatorial Guinea. Cisse will be hoping to better the team’s performance from the last edition, where the Teranga Lionesses only managed the group stage following a winless feat.
Uganda
George Lutalo
Lutalo replaced Faridah Bulega as the head coach of the Crested Cranes in September 2021. He is also the mentor of Uganda Premier League side Onduparaka. The 2021 Cosafa Women's Championship was his first training ground where he led his side to finish second in Group C of the competition, however they could not progress to the next round due to the goals difference.
GROUP B
Cameroon
Gabriel Zabo
Zabo was appointed as the head coach of the side in 202. He took over from Alain Djeumfa Defrasne who coached the Indomitable Lionesses from January 2019 but missed out on leading the 2016 Women’s Afcon hosts to the Tokyo Olympics.
Zabo will be hoping to change the Lionesses' fortunes by getting the team into the top four of the Women’s Afcon in order to return to the Fifa Women’s World Cup for the third time in a row.
Togo
Kai Tomety
Tomety became the first woman to coach the Togolese women’s national team. She will also lead the side to uncharted territory as The Female Sparrowhawks will debut in the women’s continental. The former has been overseeing the growth of the women's team in the country for the last decade but was officially appointed as the head coach in 2018 and had led the team to five WAFU Zone B Women's Cup group stage matches. Tomety will be hoping her side will cause an upset in their maiden Women’s Afcon.
Tunisia
Samir Landolsi
Landolsi is no stranger to the side. He led the Cartharge Eagles to their maiden tournament in 2008 in Equatorial Guinea. This is his fourth stint in charge of the since his return in 2021 after taking over from Mourad Bacha. His defeat of two times winners, Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers, gives him and his charges the confidence to upset their opponents in the group to progress to the next round.
Zambia
Bruce Mwape
Mwape was appointed the head coach of the team in 2018 and took over from coach Albert Kachinga. In his tenure Mwape helped the Copper Queens qualify for their first ever Olympic Games, which were held in Tokyo. After being named the Best Women’s National Coach in Africa for 2021 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) Mwape will be hoping to prove his prowess in the competition and better the team’s finish from the group stages in the last edition.
GROUP C
Botswana
Gaoletlhoo Nkutlwisang
The former Double Action captain has been leading the Mares as coach since since her days as a player with the national team. She has helped the team grow over the years and eliminating South Africa from the Olympic qualifiers in 2019 was one of her major successes. Nkutlwisang also led the team to the silver medal at the 2020 Cosafa Women’s Championship. She will be looking to upset the teams in Group C of the competition as they did in the qualifiers by ending Zimbabwe’s hopes for the tournament after a 3-3 aggregate score.
Burundi
Gustave Niyonkuru
Niyonkuru has been overseeing the transition of women's players from the juniors the Swallows since 2019. He led the team to qualify for their first ever Women’s Afcon after they defeted Djibouti with an impressive 11-1 aggregate score.
Nigeria
Randy Waldrum
Waldrum replaced Swedish Thomas Dennerby in 2020, three years after he missed out on the offer. Losing to South Africa in the Aisha Buhari Cup will be the motivation for Waldrum and the Super Falcons to avenge the loss and go all the way to defending the title successfully but most importantly book the place in the finals of the Fifa Women’s World Cup.
South Africa
Desiree Ellis
The former Banyana Banyana captain took over the coaching reigns in 2016 after being assistant to Dutch born, Vera Pauw. Ellis guided the team to the 2016 edition of the Women’s Afcon in Cameroon where the team finished fourth. She later led the side to four back-to-back Cosafa Women’s Championship from 2017 to 2020. She also became the first coach to lead South Africa to the maiden Fifa Women’s World Cup which was held in France in 2019. Ellis will be looking to earn her first continental title and book a place in the World Cup for the second time.