Soccer is greater than factual a recreation, it’s a huge alternate price billions of dollars. While African gamers beget prolonged been stars on the subject, a increasing desire of African entrepreneurs and customers for the time being are taking cost off the pitch by proudly owning soccer golf equipment international.
These folk have to not factual inquisitive in regards to the game but are furthermore the employ of their resources to form its future.
Right here’s a stare upon 10 Africans who beget made their label in international soccer membership ownership.
Kunle Soname (Portugal – C.D. Feirense)
Kunle Soname, a Nigerian businessman, is the indispensable Nigerian to bear a European soccer membership. In 2015, he obtained a majority stake in C.D. Feirense, a Portuguese personnel, marking a historical 2nd for African customers in soccer.
Soname is furthermore the founder of Bet9ja, one in every of Nigeria’s biggest sports betting platforms. His admire for soccer doesn’t end there—he furthermore owns Remo Stars FC, a Nigerian membership acknowledged for increasing younger talent.
Nneka Ede (Portugal – Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD)
Nneka Ede made history in 2020 by turning into the indispensable African lady to bear a European soccer membership. She purchased Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD, a Portuguese membership with over a century of history. Her imaginative and prescient for the membership is to execute a pathway for African footballers to showcase their talent in Europe.
Tems (USA – San Diego FC)
Nigerian tune well-known person Tems horrified the enviornment in 2025 when she turned fragment of the ownership community of San Diego FC, a Vital League Soccer (MLS) membership in the US. This circulation made her the indispensable African lady with a stake in an MLS membership. Known for her Grammy-winning tune, Tems sees soccer as a manner to unite of us all the strategy in which via cultures, making her funding bigger than factual enterprise—it’s about affect.
Shola Akinlade (Denmark – Aarhus Fremad)
Shola Akinlade, co-founder of Paystack, made a sexy circulation into soccer when he obtained a majority stake in Danish membership Aarhus Fremad in 2023. His goal? To execute extra opportunities for African footballers to interrupt into European soccer. Sooner than this, he basically based Wearing Lagos FC in Nigeria, exhibiting his deep passion for the game and youth improvement.
Eniola Aluko (Italy – FC Como Ladies)
Eniola Aluko, a British-Nigerian worn footballer, transitioned from taking half in on the subject to proudly owning a membership. In 2024, she turned a board member of Italy’s FC Como Ladies. Her background as a worn England world and Chelsea Ladies’s participant, alongside her ride in sports administration, makes her a robust force in shaping females’s soccer.
Kingsley Pungong (Czech Republic – MFK Vyskov)
Cameroonian businessman Kingsley Pungong took ownership of MFK Vyskov, a Czech membership, in 2017. By his company, Rainbow Sports Global, he has helped African abilities catch European publicity. Even though he later purchased the membership in 2024, his characteristic in expanding African soccer’s presence in Europe stays indispensable.
Samih Sawiris (Switzerland – FC Luzern)
Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris made his soccer debut by shopping a stake in Swiss membership FC Luzern in 2011. Coming from one in every of Egypt’s wealthiest families, Sawiris has been instrumental in boosting the membership’s financial strength and prolonged-timeframe plans.
Patrice Motsepe (South Africa – Mamelodi Sundowns)
South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe is better acknowledged for his ownership of Mamelodi Sundowns, but his affect extends a ways beyond that. As president of the Confederation of African Soccer (CAF), he has performed a key characteristic in the event of soccer on the continent. His affect isn’t very factual about ownership but furthermore leadership in the game.
Nassef Sawiris (England – Aston Villa)
Nassef Sawiris, one other member of Egypt’s highly efficient Sawiris family, co-owns Aston Villa, one in every of England’s oldest soccer golf equipment. Since taking on in 2018, he has helped the membership rep its area in the Premier League, investing heavily in participant transfers and infrastructure.
Akosua Puni Essien (Italy – Como 1907)
Ghanaian businesswoman Akosua Puni Essien made waves in 2017 when she purchased Como 1907, an Italian membership. The companion of worn Chelsea well-known person Michael Essien, she took on the grief of rebuilding the membership, which had struggled with financial difficulties.
