Clémentine Touré on her ground-breaking CAF Pro Licence journey

In January 2026, she became Africa’s first female coach to attain the CAF Pro Licence and is a member of Côte d’Ivoire’s national management team with responsibility for delivering the CAF A Licence. Touré’s personality, drive and determination shine through in this interview as she explains the challenges she had to navigate while breaking barriers as a woman in African football. She reflects on the vital role her tutors played and how much she valued learning from the experiences of fellow participants on her coaching courses, and explains how more women can come through the system with the right supports in place.

• Discipline, work ethic, and commitment are core values in Touré’s football philosophy, and as a coach, she works hard to develop them in her players.

• As a female coach, she faced additional challenges and barriers on her coaching journey as she began to break new ground in a male-dominated industry.

• Mentorship and learning on the coaching education journey play a huge role in developing confidence and trust in the developing coach, and African football will benefit greatly from having more female coaches.

Part 1: Starting out as a coach
Inspired by the opportunities that football had given her during her professional playing career, Touré was quickly drawn to coaching and her passion for the continued development of women’s football across CAF. She discusses the challenges she faced when she first became a head coach in 2006, navigating perception biases and breaking barriers as a female coach. She found this aspect of the role difficult and talks about how she developed resilience as she was developing as a young coach. Touré describes how her football philosophy is underpinned by the pillars of work ethic, a strong mindset, and developing potential, and reflects on how these qualities helped her navigate her coach education pathway. Through hard work, perseverance and unwavering commitment, she gradually gained acceptance as a female coach and proved she deserved her place on the coaching course and in the dugout.

Part 2: The CAF Pro Licence & female coaches
Achieving her CAF Pro Licence was a major milestone in Touré’s coaching development, and she reflects on how valuable her previous coaching experiences were in finally reaching that professional coaching standard. Learning from other coaches participating in the course was a key component of the overall experience, alongside mentorship from her tutors. She sees her breakthrough at this level as a big step forward for African football and for female African coaches, and explains how it has developed her own confidence and can, hopefully, inspire more women in Africa to follow the coaching pathway. She believes that women can coach men’s teams and explains that it is a dream of hers to coach in the men’s game. Touré believes there can be great opportunities for more female coaches to develop in Africa with the right support from their clubs and CAF, and how football across the continent will truly benefit from having more women involved.