Sports Africa summit charts path for accelerated sector devt

The inaugural Sports Africa Investment Summit, which held in Lagos has set a roadmap for accelerated growth of the continent’s sports sector.

The two-day power packed summit, tagged SAIS2025, gave the participants an opportunity to dialogue and make deals, setting the stage for accelerated investment in African sports.

Themed “Unleashing Africa’s Potential: Investing in Sports Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future,” SAIS 2025 brought together policy makers, investors, and industry leaders to explore transformative strategies that unlock significant opportunities across Africa’s sports ecosystem.

The event, held on February 17 and 18, 2025, was the first-ever investment summit in Africa dedicated to sports and saw the signing of a landmark agreement between Sport Nigeria Ltd and the Abia State government.

A major highlight of the summit was the breakout session titled “National Sports Federations as “Business Drivers” of their Sport- Alignment of interests to facilitate collaborations and partnerships between the private sector and Federations.”

The session brought together key industry experts to discuss strategies for leveraging sports to drive social and economic growth within communities.

Sport Nigeria’s Vice Chairman, Yahaya Maikori, delivered the welcome address, setting the tone for a summit that brought together key stakeholders across sports, business, and governance.

The CEO of Sport Nigeria LTD/GTE, Nkechi Obi, set the agenda for the summit, while the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko, delivered the keynote address, entitled: “Sports as a Catalyst for Africa Towards 2063.”

The Summit had three plenary sessions, one fire-side chat and 18 breakout sessions with various engaging topics