Africa’s sporting landscape has always brimmed with talent and passion, but what does it offer as an opportunity for new businesses?
Speaking to Lynsey Hooper in the latest edition of GIS’ Insight Series, Tom Vernon, founder of the Right to Dream academy, described Africa as a largely untapped market.
Right to Dream is a youth football academy in Ghana that Tom started when he was just 19 years old. Today, the academy owns professional teams in Denmark, Egypt, and the USA, with one of its most notable graduates being West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus.
Tom saw potential in West Africa that many others overlooked. “In Nigeria today, there are more children than in the whole of Europe,” he said. “When you consider the success achieved with so little investment from an athletic perspective, it’s really a no-brainer.
“Another way to look at it is this: Africa has 30 million 12-year-olds today. If just 0.1% of them have elite athletic potential, you’re talking about 30,000 elite athletes in a single age group.”
This ability to identify gaps in the market is also what propelled Abiola Ijasanmi into African sports investment.
Another guest on the panel, Abiola is an African sports investor with a focus on women’s sports. “African sports investment is a niche I identified while I was COO at CAF,” she explained. “We aim to invest in women’s sports across Africa—not just football.”
She continued, “There’s a global movement around women’s sports, and we don’t want the continent to be left behind.”
Tom sees this potential, adding, “Across Africa, when you talk about opportunity in sports, you have this amazing combination of immense athletic potential and massive demand from a growing middle class seeking entertainment concepts.
“With no investment, you’re already seeing some of the best athletes in the world emerging. We’ve seen it in football for years. This convergence makes Africa the last great opportunity within sports.”
Another promising avenue is sports technology, a booming global sector valued at USD 13 billion. According to Tom, this represents a key area for growth in Africa. “The opportunities lie in Africa,” he stated.
“You have emerging tech hubs where the people driving the tech are also passionate sports enthusiasts. In other tech hubs globally, you might find less enthusiasm for sports combined with technology.
“So, wherever you look, the answer is Africa.”
Article by Zakaria Anani
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