State of sports in Africa

Whereas sports in Africa is yet to achieve what other developed continents accomplished many years ago, we still find it provocative to devour into what ails us. Several scholars and writers have not spared the ink to point out challenges and solutions in the sports industry, and again we are still tackling the same issues many years later. Where does the rain beat us? 

First, the importance of sports has not been sufficiently appreciated by African governments or other stakeholders and therefore not given its well-deserved space and resources, even though sports play a critical role in attaining economic and social development.

Nevertheless, we continue to excel in many various sports, in fact, Kenyan marathon runners and Ivorian footballers are among the globe’s best athletes. Then, our own Jacob Kiplimo recently bagged a gold medal at the 2020 World Half Marathon. The 19-year-old long-distance runner finished the race in 58 minutes and 49 seconds in the men's category, giving Uganda its first-ever gold medal at the event. Hugues Fabrice Zango, a 27-year-old athlete from Burkina Faso, also smashed the world indoor triple jump record in France, to become the first athlete to go further than 18 metres indoors early this month. He became the first African man to hold a world record in a jumps event. Remarkable, right? With plenty of  talent and passion, why are we still trailing? 

Poor policies and lack of sports education
Some African countries have sports policies, yes, but the majority are fragmented and uncoordinated. Sports ministries are often sandwiched within other ministries, underfunded, and unable to support priority activities or to establish or enforce policies. We for example have athletes going back to their villages at the end of big competitions waiting a year or two for another regional event. This cannot sustain their talent. Solutions include investment in capacity-building and training, setting realistic and up-to-date policies, onto strong legal frameworks to combat corruption and mismanagement.

Poor governance and corruption
It is ironic that even when sports stand for good governance, respect for the rules, fair play, honesty, and discipline, sports stakeholders in East Africa are still affected by corruption and poor governance. Most African journalists have pointed out that corruption has ruined African football, and hinted at the substantial sums of money, coming from various sponsors and FIFA development projects, which have disappeared into people’s pockets. Sports education for managers and top officials coupled with improving national accountability and transparency mechanisms can work wonders in fighting poor governance and corruption. 

Inadequate investment in infrastructure
Most existing sports facilities in Africa are in poor conditions and require heavy investment to regain their glory. In football, most countries boast a state-of-the-art Chinese-built national stadium that proudly hosts matches for their national teams, but further down the scale, clubs continue to play in crumbling dusty fields. According to Seth Willis, a sports contributor for The Goal, the stadiums that have been given the greenlight by FUFA, to host top-tier matches are Lugogo Stadium, Fufa Technical Centre in Njeru, Wankulukuku, St Mary's, Green Light in Arua, Tororo's King George and Kabaka Kyabaggu.  Other sports suffer a similar fate, indoor sports also struggle with a lack of training facilities resorting to classrooms and hotel halls. There is an obvious need for investment by governments, but also structured incentives and an enabling environment for both local and foreign investors within the sports industry. 

Labour Migration

The reason for migration is principally an economic one – money. By moving to Europe, a footballer will earn more, possibly play for a big team and appear on television around the world, the ticket to signing endorsement deals. In his book, African Soccerscapes, Peter Alegi points out that footballers, like African workers in general, have been part of the increasing flow of permanent economic migrants which has mostly benefited the European market. Even though it is a win-win situation and that footballers earn huge sums of money, some are lost to the continent. Didier Drogba for example is more celebrated for his international role in football than in Ivory Coast. Drogba’s failure to get enough votes for his bid to vie for the presidency of the Ivory Coast Football Association, tells it all.

Sports in Africa continues to face a myriad of problems, not limited to the above, issues like gender discrimination, lack of innovation, unprofessionalism, equally require attention. By and large, we cannot dispute that sports in Africa is on the verge of a new dynamic era because our passion and talent are still raw, vast, and untapped. With the right mindset, professionalism, and collaborative efforts, we can achieve what others have accomplished. 

The writer, Mariam is a sports activist with a master’s in sports management from Real Madrid Graduate School.