The worldwide soccer trade is a multi-billion greenback behemoth making it probably the most worthwhile and highly effective sectors on the earth.
Past the fun of the sport, soccer has an infinite impression on the worldwide economic system by way of broadcasting rights, sponsorships, merchandise and tourism.
Host nations of main leagues and tournaments get a big {economic} increase from job creation to infrastructure improvement as the game attracts thousands and thousands of followers and buyers worldwide.
Africa has for a very long time been celebrated for its expertise on the pitch and has produced among the continent’s biggest soccer stars like Victor Osimhen, Kanu Nwankwo, Mikel Obi, Didier Drogba and others. These gamers haven’t solely earned the respect of followers with their expertise however have additionally grow to be world ambassadors for the continent. However Africa’s affect in soccer is not restricted to the pitch.
A rising variety of the continent’s greatest names entrepreneurs, enterprise moguls and buyers at the moment are dipping their toes into the soccer trade by buying and managing international golf equipment.
On this article, we take a look at 10 Africans who personal international soccer golf equipment and the way they’re utilizing their sources and imaginative and prescient to form the way forward for the sport.
1. Kunle Soname
Kunle Soname, a Nigerian entrepreneur and sports activities fanatic, has carved out a novel area in each the enterprise and soccer worlds. Finest often known as the chairman of Bet9ja, a number one Nigerian betting platform he based in 2013, Soname made headlines in 2015 when he turned the primary Nigerian to amass a European soccer membership, buying a majority stake in Portugal’s C.D. Feirense. Past his ventures in sports activities and gaming, he’s additionally the founding father of ValueJet, a personal Nigerian airline, showcasing his numerous enterprise acumen.
In 2004, he based Remo Stars Soccer Membership, initially often known as FC DENDER, which started in Lagos State earlier than relocating to the Remo space of Ogun State.
2. Nneka Ede
Nneka Ede, a Nigerian entrepreneur, made historical past in 2020 when she bought Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD, a Portuguese soccer membership primarily based in Évora. This landmark acquisition made her the primary African lady to personal a European soccer membership. Lusitano de Évora, because the membership is usually recognized, has a wealthy historical past relationship again to its founding on November 11, 1911.
Within the Nineteen Fifties, the membership loved a golden period, spending 14 consecutive seasons within the Primeira Divisão, Portugal’s top-tier league. To today, it stays one of many nation’s 30 most outstanding groups when it comes to first-division participation.
Ede’s imaginative and prescient for the membership goes past possession. She goals to nurture younger expertise and strengthen the sporting ties between Nigeria and Portugal. In an announcement following the acquisition, she expressed her pleasure in regards to the alternative, emphasizing her need to create a platform for younger gamers to develop and showcase their expertise on a world stage.
3. Tems
Tems, the Grammy Award-winning Nigerian singer and songwriter, made the information in February 2025 after becoming a member of the possession group of San Diego FC, a Main League Soccer (MLS) staff. This groundbreaking transfer made her the primary African lady to personal a stake in an MLS membership, marking a big crossover between the leisure and sports activities industries.
Tems expressed her pleasure in regards to the enterprise, emphasizing the unifying energy of soccer. Her involvement highlights the rising presence of African buyers and celebrities in world sports activities possession.
Tems, whose full identify is Temilade Openiyi, gained worldwide recognition after that includes on Wizkid’s 2020 hit “Essence”, which peaked at quantity 9 on the Billboard Sizzling 100. She has since gained a number of Grammy Awards, together with the Finest African Music Efficiency for her track Love Me JeJe.
4. Sola Akinlade
Shola Akinlade, a Nigerian software program engineer and entrepreneur, is widely known because the co-founder and CEO of Paystack, a groundbreaking fintech firm he began with Ezra Olubi in 2016.
Paystack modified the sport for on-line and offline funds for companies throughout Africa, incomes world consideration when it was acquired by Stripe in 2020 for $200 million.
However Akinlade’s ambitions prolong far past the tech world. In 2022, he based Sporting Lagos F.C., a soccer membership with a mission to drive neighborhood improvement and social change by way of sports activities. His ardour for soccer and expertise improvement led him to take one other daring step in March 2023, when he acquired a 55% stake in Aarhus Fremad, a Danish second-division soccer membership. This transfer was half of a bigger imaginative and prescient to create alternatives for African footballers to interrupt into European soccer.
5. Eniola Aluko
Put up-retirement, Aluko transitioned into management roles, changing into Aston Villa’s director of ladies’s soccer and later the sporting director of Angel Metropolis FC within the NWSL. In 2023, she joined Mercury 13, a $100 million funding group targeted on ladies’s soccer, and in April 2024, she made historical past as the primary African lady appointed to the board of Italy’s FC Como Ladies.
Put up-retirement, Aluko transitioned into management roles, changing into Aston Villa’s director of ladies’s soccer and later the sporting director of Angel Metropolis FC within the NWSL. In 2023, she joined Mercury 13, a $100 million funding group targeted on ladies’s soccer, and in April 2024, she made historical past as the primary African lady appointed to the board of Italy’s FC Como Ladies.
Past soccer, Aluko is a outstanding broadcaster, overlaying males’s and girls’s leagues for ITV, BT Sport, and Fox Sports activities. In July 2024, she launched a £60,000 scholarship with Brunel College, supporting legislation and sports activities college students with tuition, journey, and Adidas-sponsored kits.
