CANEX WKND 2022 ended on Sunday, 27 November, with a session focusing on the business of sports, at the auditorium of Hôtel Ivoire, Abidjan. Panelists – lecturer/researcher, sportsman and financier – were unanimous about the difficulties in benefiting from the African sports sector. They therefore called on former sports stars and leaders to invest further in the sector.
How can one benefit from sports in the African continent? This question was at the heart of discussions during the closing session of the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend 2022, which opened on Friday, 25 November, on the banks of the Ebrié Lagoon. Panelists felt that the African ecosystem is conducive to the development of sports and related businesses.
Eyong Enoh, former Professional Football Player, now Coach and Founder of 4pBaller, explained that the African population of 1.5 billion inhabitants, is predominantly young, the youth comprising 80%. Statistics show that one out of two youths will be African in the coming years. It is an important concept. Serge-Alain Ayekoe, Lecture/Researcher, equally affirmed that taking into consideration the desire of youths to participate in sports, it could be said that the continent is endowed with huge potential.
Contrast: despite the immense potentials, the Continent is yet to benefit from the economic spin-offs of sporting activities, estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
In their opinion, Africa suffers from lack of financing and the requisite data for the development of sports businesses. Temwa Gondwe, Senior Manager, Intra-African Trade Initiative at Afreximbank, pointed out that we have talent that others harness and develop, because we do not have the necessary infrastructure. We have an abundance of talent, but who manages all that talent? We have challenges in terms of infrastructure, but who finances infrastructure? Our talent is exported outside the continent, but who manages all that talent? All these factors are important if we wish to benefit from the ecosystem.
Serge-Alain Ayekoe, Lecture/Researcher, further stated that we should start gathering pertinent information in order to take appropriate steps. Mechanisms for data collection should be put in place. It would be more appropriate to pool information, in order to provide our leaders with reliable data that will give them a different perspective on sports.
For Eyong Enoh, former football stars should return to Africa to work. The expertise of these stars could serve towards the development of Africa. They should use their influence to develop their sector of activity. He concluded that if they are unable to produce more stars like themselves, they have failed as sports influencers.