Africa Football Business Summit explores strategies to boost sports development

Kenya is hosting the Africa Football Business Summit to boost football and sports development across the continent. The summit focuses on ways African countries can benefit from the game’s ever-increasing popularity. The meeting comes as East African nations prepare to host the African Cup of Nations in 2027, while Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup.

In recent international football tournaments, African teams have enjoyed unprecedented success. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, an African team, Morocco, reached the semi-final for the first time.

Experts attribute that success not only to talent and hard work but also to significant investment at the community level to nurture talent and produce more quality players.

The Football Foundation for Africa, an organization that promotes investment in the sport, has brought together government officials, league representatives, and experts from Europe and Brazil to help Africa grow its football programs and reaping the benefits of the sport’s popularity.

The founder, Brian Wesaala, told the gathering that Africa needs to take the game seriously since it can lead to economic prosperity.

“It’s high time football started to make social and economic sense, especially for the African continent,” he said. “We keep boosting our talent, we keep boosting our youth but when we look at football as an industry, do we really have an agenda as Africa? It's high time that we took up ownership of these conversations and made it ours in order for us to progress as a continent.”

The chairperson of the foundation, Mohamed Shidiye, said there is a need to bring the game closer to communities. He believes it can keep children on the right path.

“We are trying to connect the dots in the entire globe to make sure that youth, wherever they are, are able to play football, pull them out of drug menace and make them mentally and physically fit, so that they become a very responsible citizen,” he said.

Speaking this week at a meeting of the Confederation of African Football, or CAF, in Ethiopia, the president of world football governing body FIFA called on African countries to invest in young talent.

Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino said he wants to see African teams win international tournaments.

Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are set to host the African Cup of Nations in 2027, and government officials and stakeholders have been conducting a series of meetings to attract investors and learn how they can win financially from the tournament in the long term.

The chief commercial officer of the Uganda Premier League, Jovin Matovu, says East African countries will work to maximize revenue sources such as ticket sales, broadcast media deals and commercial sponsorships.

“We’ve got an opportunity as East Africa to host the biggest football competition in the region,” he said. “It's time to justify to the investors if you put this much here, this is what you are getting in return. We are preparing the fans, our clubs, the media, the corporate companies for the entire value chain to see where to invest and how to get a return that can be sustained.”

In six years, Morocco co-hosts the World Cup along with Portugal and Spain. Football authorities there hope not only for a repeat of the on-field success seen in 2022, but also the financial benefits that can come from hosting the world’s most popular sporting event.

This story originally appeared on VOA.