Coming Out Party for South Africa?

Will the World Cup catapult South Africa into the big leagues? In the past, hosting major international tournaments have often signaled that the host nation is primed to be an economic powerhouse. For example, the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, and the 2008 Beijing games brought these nations prominently onto the world stage and coincided with their economic ascendancy. To a certain extent the same can be said about the 1956 Melbourne games (where, as everyone knows, Vilhjálmur Einarsson got a silver medal in the triple jump). The Olympics in Japan, in particular, demonstrated to people around the world that Japan had recovered from the calamities of World War II and were a great advertisement for the country and its industrial products.

However, this connection between hosting international tournaments and economic growth is not always a positive one. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City did not lead to economic prosperity in Mexico and Montreal is still paying for their 1976 games. Perhaps the current economic turmoil in Greece can be partly attributed to the debt they accumulated to put on a good show for the 2004 Olympics. Sometimes, success in a tournament can help an unpopular government stay in power and offer a useful distraction from domestic political turmoil. For example, winning the World Cup in 1978 solidified the military government in Argentina, helped them continue their "dirty war", and emboldened them to consider waging war over the Falklands/Malvinas a few years later which had devastating results for Argentina.

Now, for the first time, Africa is hosting the World Cup and the continent will have the world´s attention for one month. The tournament will undoubtedly highlight Africa´s severe economic and political problems. But it could also demonstrate that they are open for business and bring out positive aspects that people do not often associate with Africa.