Africa Football Business Summit explores strategies to boost sport development

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Africa Football Business Summit explores strategies to boost sport development

Kenya hosts the Africa Football Business Summit to boost the development of football and sport across the continent. The summit focuses on how African countries can benefit from the ever-growing popularity of the game. The meeting comes as East African countries prepare to host the Africa 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 this success not only to talent and hard work, but also to significant investment at the community level to develop talent and produce more quality players.

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

Founder Brian Wesaala told the gathering that Africa must take the game seriously because it can lead to economic prosperity.

“It is high time that football starts to make social and economic sense, especially for the African continent,” he said. “We continue to develop our talents, we continue to develop our youth, but when we look at football as an industry, do we really have an agenda as Africa? It is high time that we take ownership of these conversations and make them our own so that we can move forward as a continent.

Foundation president Mohamed Shidiye said there was a need to bring football closer to communities. He thinks it can keep kids on the right track.

“We are trying to connect the dots around the world to ensure that young people, wherever they are, are able to play football, take them away from the menace of drugs and make them mentally and physically fit, so that ‘They become very responsible citizens,’ he said.

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

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

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

Uganda Premier League Chief Commercial Officer Jovin Matovu says East African countries will work to maximize revenue streams such as ticket sales, broadcast media deals and commercial sponsorships .

“We have the opportunity as East Africa to host the biggest football competition in the region,” he said. “It’s time to justify to investors that if you invest this much here, this is what you get in return. We prepare fans, our clubs, the media, businesses across the value chain to see where to invest and how to achieve a sustainable return.

In six years, Morocco will co-host the World Cup alongside Portugal and Spain. Football authorities are hoping not only for a repeat of the on-field success recorded in 2022, but also the financial benefits that can come from hosting the world’s most popular sporting event.

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