Discovering, Developing, and Signing Emerging World-Class Football Players From Africa with Kingsley Pungong and James Woods

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa podcast. I'm founder CEO of Rainbow Sports Global, a company that was founded 15 years ago and has been focused on connecting Africa to the global sports ecosystem. I'm a partner and director with Rainbow Sports Global, away from that former diplomat and passionate

[00:00:18] about the development of the African continent. Once we identify the player, we need to put him through a stringent interview process that makes sure his characteristics beyond his playing qualities align with Rainbow's vision and Rainbow's way of doing things.

[00:00:32] There's a growth in African talent, that interest in investment goes into the space that people are willing to put money where the talent is. Stay tuned as we bring you inspiring people who are unlocking Africa's economic potential.

[00:00:47] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa podcast with your host Terser Adamu. Welcome to the Unlocking Africa podcast where we find inspirational people who are doing inspirational things to unlock Africa's economic potential. Today we have two very special guests, we have James Woods and Kingsley Pungong,

[00:01:11] who are from Rainbow Sports Global which is a global sports investment company covering the entire sports value chain including sports franchise, ownership, management and financing. Welcome to the podcast, James and Kingsley, how are you? Brilliant, brilliant, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast.

[00:01:36] I'm not sure if you've listened to the podcast before but I usually like to start from the beginning so I was hoping you can give us an introduction. Feel free to go first James or Kingsley. I'm Kingsley Pungong, an entrepreneur of African Instruction to be specific

[00:01:50] Cameroon and I'm founder CEO of Rainbow Sports Global, a company that was founded about 15 years ago and has been purely focused on connecting Africa to the global sports ecosystem. Fantastic, thank you for that.

[00:02:03] All right, I'm James Woods, a Malawian national, I should say a global citizen as we all are. So I'm a partner and director with Rainbow Sports Global, away from that former diplomat and passionate about the development of the African continent

[00:02:19] through sports investment or let's just say socioeconomic development of the continent. So Kingsley, you mentioned that the company Rainbow Sports Global was founded 15 years ago so what inspired you to focus on African football specifically?

[00:02:36] Yeah it was first of all passion and secondly it ties in on my notion of putting Africa first I feel that a continent that is young over 60% of the population being under the age of 30

[00:02:48] there were going to be more players coming out of Africa, more sportsmen coming out of Africa in the future that has come before and I thought it was a rich area in each where one could focus

[00:02:57] and really make a difference in terms of building out the infrastructure and putting together the systems that offer opportunities for these young people that we see as Africa's future. Terza, just to add to what Kingsley was saying, I've known Kingsley for over a decade so I've

[00:03:14] been involved with working with Kingsley for about you say about that time period or so but the passion that Kingsley showcases to the global arena of African development is phenomenal and it's a shared vision that we have and just adding on to that it's you look at

[00:03:29] Africa's raw talent in sports this is both undeniable and underrepresented on the global stage so the aspect of rainbow sports global you know this was recognized that there is an opportunity not only to change the lives of individual players but also to impact the

[00:03:46] communities the economies across the continent positively. This was by investing not only in African talent not only in exporting African football stars but in contributing to the development of the local sports industry in the infrastructural aspect

[00:03:58] the creating of opportunities, creating of jobs, inspiring the next generation you know creating an entity and Africa for Africans to the global arena. So you mentioned in terms of the passion putting Africa first and putting together the right

[00:04:13] infrastructure at Rainbow Sports Global you do have a unique business model that you're building in Africa I was hoping you could elaborate on what that unique business model is. The uniqueness of our business is that we put people first even though we have

[00:04:30] commercial aspirations our aim is to make sure that every deserving player we come across gets an opportunity and that's the cornerstone of what we do and we also make sure that we control the entire value chain and that provides us with opportunity control the ecosystem we

[00:04:46] send players to friendly clubs, clubs that we know that they'll have guaranteed play time and we transition them putting their own interests first. I think that's the uniqueness of our business model. Brilliant so you mentioned about every player gets the opportunity obviously

[00:05:02] there are some challenges to access those opportunities so what are some of the challenges you've faced in providing those opportunities in terms of signing, emerging football talents from Africa and then directing them to those opportunities? The significant challenges

[00:05:20] first of all Africa is a vast continent with most of it being rural and it's broken infrastructure in some parts so it's challenging finding talent it's challenging finding them where they may recite because most in most some of these countries you don't have organized leagues you know have

[00:05:36] organized youth leagues and a lot of players that just play school football or street football will have the potential but never get seen if you take the case of England where every player

[00:05:46] probably from the age of seven has been discovered is exceedingly difficult in Africa to find talent that's one of the challenges. The second one is because of the lack of professionalism within the African ecosystem you have the fragility of contracts and it's also challenging in terms

[00:06:01] of enforcing those contracts so it's even though it has a lot of upside there's some significant challenges but challenges that are not as mountable and we're looking at every time to learn those challenges as well present a barrier for entry for competition so from an

[00:06:19] entrepreneurial perspective we embrace those challenges while we work to solve them or we try to we're hesitant to keep our focusing on them. Terza just to elaborate a tiny bit further I think Kingsley has hit the nail on the head with that you know where he spoke about

[00:06:34] the many African countries lacking the sort of facilities and structure youth development programs you know found more in the developed nations but I mean there's also issues such as logistical issues you know such as travel restrictions and limited access to these remote

[00:06:47] areas Kingsley was mentioning these impede that developmental aspect that we're looking at but another challenge I should say is also ensuring that our operations remain ethical and compliant with international transfer regulations particularly when working with these young athletes so it's crucial to work closely with families and local

[00:07:05] communities to ensure that players interests are always at the forefront so it's you know understanding that cultural aspect so that that is a you know deeper immersion into those systems because as for those who've lived on the continent we know that when there is an opportunity for

[00:07:21] somebody to progress particularly in this football terrain at times you find challenges in how you get those families and entities aligned with the vision you have so understanding those cultural aspects has been extremely crucial but we are applying those methods and

[00:07:36] you know seeing success out of that fantastic so you did touch on a key point there James in terms of the process they use to ensure that your scouting or recruiting of talent is ethical

[00:07:49] maybe we can go into a bit more detail in terms of what exactly you're doing to ensure that that process is ethical and effective at the same time yeah I think making sure that it's ethical

[00:08:01] is just sticking by the rules FIFA who are the world regulatory body for football have come up with a pretty comprehensive and stringent rule list that died to identification the trialing and the exporting of African talent and that also encompasses protecting minors protecting families

[00:08:21] and making sure that things are done above board and we we stick to these rules to the letter and that's why we feel that we're going about the business right way so once you've kind of identified

[00:08:34] this talent you follow the ethical process what is in place in terms of internally where sports global to ensure the holistic development of this young talent or these young talented footballers in the system fantastic that's a good question once we identify the player the

[00:08:52] player obviously has low potential we need to put him through a stringent interview process that make sure that his characteristics beyond his playing qualities align with rainbow's vision and rainbow's way of doing things that includes psychological testing that includes physical

[00:09:07] testing that includes understanding his mind and how he connects to to his body once all that is approved the rubber stamp we now align him with where we see as an appropriate next step it can be a university scholarship in America it could be getting

[00:09:24] him into one of our clubs to have pre-development and then we will now discuss with our placement network in Africa and globally to see what is the most best opportunity to provide him with the right exposure that will give him maximum opportunity to showcase the talent.

[00:09:42] Tessa, we have what we call the the rainbow way. Yes within the organization itself so this is a comprehensive development program you know which would include education, life skills training, mental health support I think to remember that you know sports itself

[00:09:57] is also about your mental and physical state so that that is a key issue as Kingzy was mentioning how you prepare these athletes to cope with the pressures the intensity and the demands of competitive sports. So would you say the holistic development approach that you use for

[00:10:15] young talent in Africa differs considerably to an approach you would you say in Europe? Absolutely it's totally different because the Africa that is different from the European athlete the African environment is different from the European environment and we have to

[00:10:30] customize African solutions and that's what we're doing it's totally different and if you try and export a European solution on the continent you probably just not succeed. Interesting interesting so I guess further down the line in terms of what you mentioned

[00:10:47] the infrastructure not being in place and talent not being discovered we know that sometimes it's more of an access and exposure issue in terms of talent being promoted and put in the spotlight so

[00:11:01] if we can take it in a different direction with what you do would you believe promoting or the use of say media solutions play a part in the strategy of first uncovering talent and then

[00:11:15] exposing them to a wider audience? You know media solutions um these play a crucial role in our strategy to to elevate African football and its talents you know through ideas and partnerships with broadcasters digital platforms you know we aim to improve the visibility of African players

[00:11:33] the leagues telling their stories to global audience through our own platforms this not only helps in promoting the players the athletes but also attracts interests from clubs sponsors fans worldwide you know creating a sort of virtual cycle that benefits the entire ecosystem

[00:11:49] so our internal in-house you know use of social media and content creation this is designed to engage our fans you know build communities drive support for these emerging talents showcasing the sort of diversity of African football so I think you know the

[00:12:03] media media solutions do do play a major role in how the works of rainbow and the works of development actually can be showcased to a global audience there's probably a few people better pleased to provide an apt analysis on this whole media connection as James let him to

[00:12:21] deep dive further into that if necessary brilliant brilliant could you give me some examples or some of the recent work that you've done within this area whereby you feel say a media solution has played a significant part in leveraging or opening up an opportunity

[00:12:38] or giving the needed exposure for a specific say football talent I think I'm Kingsley I'll let you touch on this one if you can maybe touch on the combines we've had we have several

[00:12:49] combines that are widely covered in Dubai in Africa and we have a player recently a Farish me that just signed for Olympic the Marseille in France from Bulu in Norway he's alumni and that player was discovered in a fairly elaborate combine organized in Cameroon about eight years

[00:13:06] ago with in partnership with Crystal Palace and the Cameroonian FA it was pretty high profile and the media exposure allowed for players to come from far or wide and one of these players was a young Farish that we later offered a scholarship to United States to

[00:13:22] Montverdi academy in Florida where he stayed for two years polished up its English we transitioned him to the United States soccer league with Philadelphia Bethlehem Steel and then he was signed to board to Christiansen in Norway and later Bodo where he became one of the best strikers

[00:13:39] in the Norwegian Premier League and in the European Conference League and that has earned him a massive move to Marseille we have a distinguished cohort a distinguished alumni list from Patrick Amoay young player from Ghana was going to Nashville we have Dawood

[00:13:53] Amado Cameroonian who is now signed to Colorado Rapids and it's the flavor and the different where the different places where they come from we have Bobosi a full international for Uganda which is going to Austin FC in United States we have Samson Dwaye was signed to Victoria

[00:14:08] Feisen in the Premier League the Wendy Champions last year in Czech Republic Bienvenu Kamakana Kimena from Borundi that has signed with the Premier League in Czech Republic Gumbé Fais in Transfacagin International that is signed in China so there's a pretty impressive

[00:14:22] list of young alumni and we might have a player that over the next couple of weeks might be in a top four English Premier League side so that information will be made available to you at

[00:14:32] the right time. So for people who aren't aware what our combine is can you kind of explain what is a combine? So basically putting together a sort of an event where we can showcase

[00:14:43] our talent on a sort of global platform within select country so as we mentioned earlier that was in Dubai whereby we bring together our athletes our football players we bring together sporting directors of football clubs global football clubs scouts we bring together media personalities

[00:15:01] where they come and spend a couple days undergoing meetings conferences discussions of development of sports and also seeing the athletes perform in front of them and being able to assess and analyze the technical abilities the skills the performance of these athletes giving

[00:15:16] them opportunity to be able to sign with clubs directly from that combine itself so it's very much how you would look at a conference as you say where you know a group of minds come

[00:15:27] together to discuss pertinent issues and you know walk out with solutions so this is in essence football whereby we come together with the hope that we form lasting relationships and able to showcase talent to offer them an opportunity for furthering their professional career so through

[00:15:44] those sort of combines you know this is gathered a significant media attention because of the sort of partners and attendees that have attended this which has really helped in driving forward the vision of Rainbow Sports Global and that vision itself being the development of these young

[00:15:59] athletes that we have we also have some other interesting stories which it may be a little bit early days to speak about but you know we would love to have a follow-up on the story that

[00:16:10] may be uncovering in the in the next week or two which I think Kings will probably be more than happy to offer more insights into at a later stage fantastic fantastic so from what you've

[00:16:22] explained it's clear that these combines give them much needed exposure to the young talent which gives them global opportunities that potentially wouldn't have been possible previously I guess we're seeing a lot more of this in recent years in terms of African footballers playing at

[00:16:40] high levels whether it's in the US or Europe this might be a very obvious question for yourself but I'm gonna throw out there are you surprised by what African footballers have achieved globally

[00:16:53] so far or do you think we're still underachieving and we could achieve far more in the near future so basically you know the achievements of African footballers I mean this is this is remarkable and

[00:17:05] inspiring for you know for us being African we want to see more Africans achieve global success and become role models but to be honest with you it's not surprising for me at all because

[00:17:16] the continent has so much rich talent you know we look at players like the Muhammad Salih as Sadio Manez, Riyad Mahrez we go back to the J. J. O'Coches, the Finiti Giorgio, the San Giorgio

[00:17:28] Gioge Weyers we're looking at a history of Africa developing absolutely top quality talent now the successes are the ones we've mentioned this is I mean a testament to the talent that exists on the continent and that that talent itself is helping to increase the visibility of other African

[00:17:45] talents but the only issue that you know I have concern with has just been the lack of developmental structures at the grassroots level to really produce more stars because I think we're only

[00:17:59] just touching the surface Africa can produce a lot more stars than we have seen you know you look at the Ballon d'Or for instance only one African player is one this you know you look

[00:18:10] at the talent that has come out of Africa you start to say that we should have more talent more talent competing at that level winning global accolades for the sort of talent and skill they have

[00:18:23] but the challenge we have as I said that lays at that developmental level that we need to invest in that infrastructure to really develop the next generation of stars that are able to compete with the Lionel Messi's, the Cristiano Ronaldo's, the Zavi's, the Iniesta's of this world

[00:18:40] I agree James as you mentioned we've only had one African Ballon d'Or winner so far do you anticipate any future Ballon d'Or winners from the continent in the near future? I would say looking at the current crop of African footballers that are on the on the

[00:18:58] market there's a couple exciting players but it's the developmental process of what steps and levels they take their careers to next and this goes back to the conversation we've been having about the holistic approach to development of talent how is this talent developed? How do you

[00:19:14] prepare their mindsets? How do we nurture every aspect of their game from professionalism? How they carry themselves? What they eat? What they do? How they train? You know there's all those elements and as I said going back to that is that once those structures are invested at

[00:19:29] grassroots level and you're able to develop that from a very young age we'll be able to see more people and more Candies from Africa potentially winning the Ballon d'Or. Looking at the current crop of players right now one of my biggest concerns

[00:19:42] which may be a little bit controversial and I think both if you may disagree with me is I find that Africa has gone through certain stages whereby you look at the 80s and the 90s Africa produced absolutely sensational footballers but unfortunately the relationships and the

[00:19:59] connections and the networks with the global arena were not quite developed where some of these footballers didn't have the sort of careers that we expected them to have or you know or basically they signed the sort of contracts and then particularly support them in their vision

[00:20:12] of development. In more recent years we've seen another sort of spurge of good talent coming out with the examples of the Samuel Eto's you know Samuel Eto on the Champions League with Barcelona and Inter Milan. We look at the Yaya Toures, we look at the Sadio Manes,

[00:20:29] the Salas you know the Deir Jogba for what he'd accomplished at Chelsea. We see another generation of African players but that sort of generation seems to have kind of died again but now we're

[00:20:39] seeing another spurge of new talent that is developing and more so I would say if you look at some of the talent we have at Rainbow Sports Global I wouldn't be surprised in the next 10

[00:20:51] years if we're talking about the next five to ten years if we're talking about some of those talents that we have on earth these little rough diamonds that we've unearthed that will be polished

[00:21:00] and probably a few of them that could be considered for this but it's all about this pathway and how they developed along that pathway. I don't know what your thoughts are on that Kingsley?

[00:21:10] I think you're absolutely correct I think people do not look at the reasons why that happened we had a chain broken where FIFA basically outlawed the placement of under 18 players that made it difficult players like Obafu Mi Martins and Wang Kokano all went to big clubs

[00:21:27] like Ajax Amsterdam in Tamil Nadu because they went through the reserve team that wasn't longer possible and so that disenfranchised a lot of African talent and basically created a very undemocratic arrangement things are changing now because Africans that forced Africans to

[00:21:43] start producing their own players domestically to export and expose at 18 and we are just being beginning to see the emergence of a lot of those young players that are coming after the generation

[00:21:54] that most left Africa prior to their 18th birthday. That's something we can dive into later but those are the reasons and I am supremely confident that what is high enough for us is bigger than

[00:22:06] what has come before I think the next generation of African players will actually be better than what has come before and because it's just logical that more Africans living in cities now than before so more players will be discovered. The advent of television has made the game even

[00:22:19] more popular than most cards went into Africa and Africa is investing in infrastructure and consciously that that is contagious. East Africa is investing in infrastructure big countries like Kenya are investing Tanzania and I bet you over the next 10 years East Africa will have

[00:22:35] something to say in other words. Oh, I look forward to that. I definitely do. James, you mentioned a key point there in terms of the underdevelopment of the global networks at one point between Africa and I guess Europe and the other global leagues. Would it be safe to

[00:22:52] say that African football stars are some of the biggest exports that the continent currently has? I would say yes. I would say particularly let's put it in the space of entertainment. I think

[00:23:03] Africa in the space of entertainment which sports will be classified on that so we're looking at musicians, artists, footballers. This is definitely one of the biggest exports that Africa has. So we look at household names as I was mentioning earlier the Samuel Eto's the DDA drug biz.

[00:23:21] You look at what Sadio Manet is doing in Senegal from the building of hospitals to schools. He has created a sort of global phenomena around him as this complete athlete but not only as a complete athlete, as a philanthropist. So what we're seeing with these African footballers is

[00:23:39] the sorts of works that they're bringing back into their home countries. I think it's all great saying that they are greatest exports but if we leave it at that it becomes the issue of

[00:23:51] the sort of argument about the brain drain. But when we look at this we actually say this is not really a talent strain. This is actually the talent gain because what these exports

[00:24:00] have done with the successes of Didier Drogba it grew an interest in Ivory Coast. The successes of Yahya Touré grew an interest in the Ivory Coast. The success of the Quentin Fortunes, the Benny

[00:24:11] McCarthy's people start looking at South Africa. You look at the George Wey as people that got Liberia and you know George Wey has a whole different topic because his success has also

[00:24:20] elevated him to become a head of state in his home country. So this global talent and this global aspect of exporting these African talents we need to look at on the economic and the social

[00:24:33] aspects of what it's doing back for the continent. These athletes getting them involved in developmental projects or an investment into their home countries, you know a catalyst for social economic development, inspiring positive change. You know the story is endless of what African

[00:24:49] talent that has been exported as doing back for the development of sports on the continent. As you mentioned with this comes a level of influence. So do you think we fully leverage so to speak the soft power that brings to propel Africa forward?

[00:25:06] Whilst significant progress is being made in leveraging soft power in African football, I still believe there's an untapped potential in using sport as a tool for social and economic development. You know football itself or sports in general has this unique ability

[00:25:21] to unite people to transcend culture and political boundaries, inspire positive change, you know in essence be a unifier. But however I would say is that maximizing soft power requires strategic investment in sports infrastructure which we've seen not grow at a great pace.

[00:25:40] We look at strategic investments in youth development as sort of heightened community engagement. So what I would say is that governments and private sector stakeholders or international partners really need to collaborate more effectively to harness the full potential

[00:25:54] of football soft power. You know this includes you know promoting African talent on a global stage but also leveraging the popularity of the sports to address key social challenges such as education, health, gender equality. You know if we can really capture that I think we can

[00:26:13] really leverage the benefits of sport as a tool of soft power. So I guess from your experience being fully embedded in this space are you seeing African governments starting to understand

[00:26:27] the importance of this soft power or do we still have a way to go? No African governments are beginning to understand sports has always been at the center of the agenda of African governments from Kwame Krumah developing a great garnet team in the 60s to Mumbuto

[00:26:42] promoting a lot of football in Congo and eventually bringing rumble in the jungle into Congo. African governments and heads of states are always used sports as a tool for political propaganda, youth engagement and so forth. So I think more people are being conscious with the expanding

[00:27:02] youth population. I think African governments are aware of the power of sports that's why everybody wants to use their scarce resources towards the African Asian scope. So it's all right there we'll see more development because most many governments are eager to leverage the power

[00:27:16] of sports for the good of their own people and for their own legitimacy basically. So I expect to see more involvement of African governments across the continent not just in specific geographies. You know there's certain points that looking at this element of soft power because you look

[00:27:30] at the big nations the Nigerias Cameroon Egypt you know these sort of places have really leveraged the very element of soft power but we've seen the rise of countries like Rwanda.

[00:27:42] You look at what Rwanda did with the Visit Rwanda partnership with Arsenal. They saw this as a great opportunity of utilizing that for soft power but I think this in my opinion and you know as I said

[00:27:53] I'd love both of you to disagree with me just coming from a sort of you know diplomatic background or governance background. I find that apart from specific nations very few of the other nations are really manifesting or utilizing the extreme power that sport has. I think it's whether

[00:28:10] they need you know to really invest more into into the sporting infrastructure and see how this soft power sports really unlocks doors both locally regionally and globally. We also saw more recently countries such as South Africa looking at engaging with Tottenham Hotspurs. This itself

[00:28:29] was met with Uproar in South Africa due to the cost of the partnership. It didn't go ahead. We saw Malawi. Malawi itself get involved with a promotion of Visit Malawi and in La Liga.

[00:28:42] A project that both Kings and myself worked on you know this was something that Malawi looked at promoting tourism but I still believe that that wasn't really leveraged very strongly

[00:28:53] by Malawi. I think a lot more could have been done. So I think what a few African countries need to look at is look at what countries such as Ivory Coast have done by hosting AFKON. You know there's

[00:29:04] a whole argument about what's going to happen to the stadiums after the tournament but you know that hosting of the tournament will have its benefits. It's put Ivory Coast on the map on the sporting arena. It's leveraged the right tools for using sports for developmental purposes.

[00:29:20] So I think there's still a long way to go but I think that a lot more countries need to look at other countries as examples and I think a great case study in my opinion would be to really look

[00:29:30] at what Rwanda has done with this Visit Rwanda initiative with Arsenal. Thank you for that James. I think as Kingsley mentioned African governments have always leveraged the power of sports but I guess my question was do you believe that they have used this strategically and consistently

[00:29:47] in order to move the continent forward via sports? It's anything but consistent. I think they do it in pockets. I think they do it sporadically. I think that's an issue change. If it was consistent

[00:29:59] then sports would have been developed across the board. I think we're going to witness some change because I think we're having more democratic governments, we're having some more stability across the continent and I think sports like most sectors is going to align with that

[00:30:13] because everything is driven by a progressive political agenda. So I expect to see a difference over the next coming years. Fantastic. If we bring it back to the basics in terms of the grassroots

[00:30:26] level, what are you seeing in your space in terms of the infrastructure on the continent being developed so that maybe in the future there isn't such a pressing need for African footballers to actually leave the continent in terms of developing the infrastructure of the professional arena on the

[00:30:45] continent? Yeah, I think that there's the creation of the Africa Super League. There's some initiatives that are taking place. The African athletes shouldn't just be an export product. It should be a product for domestic consumption as well. The problem is how it's done. We have

[00:31:01] political order now that is still not aligned with what Africa sees of itself in the future. For example, the African Super League that is a very forward-thinking initiative and one that I

[00:31:12] applaud is actually run by FIFA. So how is it an African solution? I think Africans need to come together and create their own solution, customize solutions for the continent, create their own leagues branded African. I would like to see more of that as opposed to a top-down approach

[00:31:29] where people offer us a support just based on the political agenda. Everyone was talking about Qatar investing in Africa, doing stuff on the continent, aspiring for boardrooms. Africans all voted for Qatar to get the World Cup, but I don't see any development that has taken

[00:31:46] place since Qatar got the World Cup. So this might be a reminder of what the Qatar reach to make sure that it's not just lip service people are to be mean. Now, Saudi Arabia has emerged supporting African initiatives, African Super League, which is good to see,

[00:31:59] but once I don't want the situation where once Saudi Arabia gets the World Cup, then it slides out. So Africans actually need to build their own systems that is there's no development without self-reliance. We have to be able to rely on self-build our

[00:32:13] own systems, brand our own systems and create products that are good enough to compete internationally that will drive domestic consumption. If we do that, I think we'll be just fine. Brilliant, I agree. As we know, that type of activity requires a lot

[00:32:27] of investment. So from the work you're doing, are you seeing increased interest and investments coming into develop the professional sports or football space on the continent? Yes, there will be increased investment. It's bound to be because the talent is just too good

[00:32:43] and in sports talent drives all levels of attraction. More European clubs are coming to invest in Africa, governments are investing, individual entrepreneurs with a passion and purpose are investing. So we will see a bigger swell of this over the next couple of years.

[00:32:58] Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. And as your work cuts across quite a few verticals all aligned to football from within the value chain such as franchise ownership, management, marketing, consulting and financing. I'm sure you've experienced a lot within this space. So

[00:33:17] what are some of the key lessons that you've learned, things that you've seen during this journey? You know, I've witnessed firsthand the development and the respectability of African football increased with time. People were not taking it seriously, scouts were

[00:33:34] reluctant to go to Africa, Africans were not signed for big clubs, were signed for French clubs. It's now changing. There's a young lad that has just left Senegal Street for Barcelona, there's another lad that has just left Senegal Street for Chelsea.

[00:33:47] You also find the biggest talent in the world, wherever they may be and that's very refreshing to experience. Brilliant. James, would you like to add anything to that? I agree with what Kingsley has said. But also, you know, I think one thing that we haven't

[00:34:03] touched upon in terms of the interest and the development and the trends in African football is, you know, a signing that just happened yesterday. This is looking at women's football. I don't know if you saw this news yesterday, this was a Zambian lady, Rachel Kundanangi,

[00:34:20] who has become the most expensive woman football in history joining Bay FC from Madrid. This was a transfer of $860,000. And I think, you know, looking at that is showcasing to you the sort of interest that people have in African sport, in African talent, in African

[00:34:38] development, you know, because for myself it makes me proud to say that the expensive female transfer has been as a Zambian player. Just need to look at last season, you look at Italy.

[00:34:47] It was the first time in the history of Italian football where both the male and female players of the year were African from Nigeria. And then you had Chawinga from Malawi playing for Inter Milan.

[00:34:59] So he had Napoli Inter Milan players winning it. So it's showcasing that there's an interest in Africa to develop Africa. There's a growth in African talent and that interest in investment I think goes into the space that people are willing to put money where the talent is.

[00:35:13] Thank you for that James, you've detailed the recent activities that shows a clear interest and increase of interest in African football. So maybe for you can keep on that trajectory in terms of what trends in African football industry are you seeing that you're currently excited about?

[00:35:33] For myself there's a couple areas that have extreme interest to me. One is the increasing professionalization of leagues and clubs across the continent, which is raising the standard of competition and attracting this audience. For a while we kind of saw places

[00:35:50] such as South Africa, Egypt with their leagues being seen as the places to go play football in on the African continent but now we're seeing a rise in other countries. Sudan has a decent

[00:36:01] league developing there. You go into Cape Verde is becoming a bit more competitive on their local scene. Interesting enough just from this Afqon that's just finished I was looking at Namibia. Namibia did not have a professional football league but you look at the development of how the Namibian

[00:36:16] team performed with Afqon and the talks that they're looking at implementing a Salif-ledged professional league again in Namibia. These are interesting trends to see the sort of development that is coming out of it but also other issues is the growing usage

[00:36:29] of technology and scouting. I think maybe thanks to AI and such which is actually helping in uncovering some of these unearthed gems in different parts of the continent. Still a long way to go but those trends, I think thanks to technology are giving better access to some

[00:36:44] of these talents at the grassroots level and in areas that people would not normally look at. As I said I'm the other trend for myself. Once again I'm looking at more recently.

[00:36:56] It's looking at what this Afqon has done for the continent. What Afqon has done is it's opened up a whole different market for people to look at markets that they wouldn't otherwise look at

[00:37:06] with how some of the teams performed. So it just opens up a whole terrain that this is a whole continent that has talent. Talent is not just left in specific pockets, it's all across the continent itself. Also beyond that I'm seeing the eagerness, some of the trends I'm

[00:37:24] seeing the eagerness of countries to have developmental academies which myself and Kingsley have been having conversations on how best we can actually invest in a number of these countries. So the interest there it's absolutely phenomenal with the sort of welcoming hands that people

[00:37:41] have on trying to see infrastructural development for academies to develop the next crop of players. Fantastic, thank you for that James Kingsley. Yeah so what actually excites me is the way African stakeholders are beginning to embrace

[00:37:56] technology. The other day I was on a conversation with a company in England called AI Labs and they do a lot of artificial intelligence and sports science analytics and I came to understand that

[00:38:08] this federation the Senegal Olympic Committee has ordered a mobile lab to tune of about two million dollars just for one of their faciliters. I think these will only make African athletes better

[00:38:22] it was said in the news outlet and I'm very encouraged by what's happening within the space at this time. Fantastic so if we go past current trends and look at the future where do you see the

[00:38:33] African football industry in five years time? I know we're talking about 54, 55 different countries where do you see it yourself? What would the football industry look like on the continent? No it's going to expand it's going to be bigger if you see look at the African nation's

[00:38:52] top today it's on sky, it's on prime time around the world in certain countries that's significant development I think we'll see more investment into academies we'll see more investment into the African media. You can see what's happening in Togo with new world TV where

[00:39:05] the government has invested heavily in media and the bank rights all across the world. I think you see better infrastructure being built in terms of stadia I think you see a lot of infusion

[00:39:16] of sports science data analytics and it's all exciting and that can only be better for African sports in general. So basically on that terms what we will envision on that is a greater commercial success for African football you know increased sponsorships, media right deals, global merchandising

[00:39:34] all these will help with the financial sustainability of sport on the continent you know and this growth itself is not only going to benefit the players and clubs but will have a positive impact on local communities and local economies so and I think

[00:39:48] with that that will surely help with the narrative that we've always all of us have always said that football plays a role or is a catalyst for social economic development in Africa. Beautiful and it's something I hope to see in the near future thank you for sharing that

[00:40:02] if we look closer to home where do you see you and the work that you'll be doing in five years time how will you be contributing to the overall development and growth of football on the continent?

[00:40:16] Oh to five years doesn't seem an eternity when you're on closer examination we're excited by the next five years we hope to have pushed out a great generation of Africans that will inspire that's very important our brand ambassadors for the continent we hope to have

[00:40:32] partnered with progressive governments to build the requisite infrastructure we hope that African athletes through the work would have done will have the recognition to deserve worldwide I would hope that a lot of young African executives will part of the decision-making procedure globally

[00:40:48] in sports and in football those are the things that we want to always seek to achieve over the coming years. Absolutely I think over the five years one thing I always say is turning our observations into obligations that positively transform these very societies we

[00:41:06] serve so looking at how you know how we can champion this development how not only championing it how we at the at the forefront of making it happen and you know looking at that it's

[00:41:18] it's something that I'm pretty excited about and we know that this is a journey that we've all embarked on not out of our self-empowerment or motivated by money it's been by the element of

[00:41:30] how best can we truly be the sons and daughters of Africa so in the next five years I think that that's what we're hoping for to see everything that we have discussed today come to reality

[00:41:40] come to fruition. Quote of the week. As people we often have quotes mantras African proverbs affirmations that keep us going when times are challenging or when times are good do you have

[00:41:52] one that you can share with us today? Yes, use that. All right so you know one African prover that resonates deeply with me and guides my approach to the work I do and generally in life

[00:42:06] is if you want to go quickly go alone if you want to go far go together now this to me speaks the power of collaboration and unity in achieving lasting success and impact. It reminds

[00:42:18] me of the journey of developing you know African football a personal development is not one to be undertaken alone but together with communities partners family friends fans the very essence

[00:42:30] of it is that together we can achieve more and ensure that whatever we set our minds to and more so within African football this can reach us full potential. Perfect, perfect thank you for sharing

[00:42:40] James Kingsley. Because of your Nigerian heritage our focus on Nigeria is an Igbo prover that states your anger and frustrations can cook yams and for all the frustration that people have about Africa is difficulties we need to look beyond and realize things and to realize

[00:43:01] things we need to focus on what really matters which is developing a plan on an agenda because just being frustrated do not cook yams for us. Fantastic, fantastic I like that one thank you for

[00:43:12] sharing that Kingsley and James as I said it's been a fantastic conversation one that we've not had before in terms of African football and the development of young talent so really appreciate

[00:43:25] you guys joining me today on the podcast. As we come to the end of the conversation I was wondering if you have any closing remarks final calls to action for people who are interested

[00:43:35] in the work that you're doing or just interested in football development on the continent in general. Terza I would say that to everybody listening to this podcast firstly it's thank you to you and thank you to everybody listening. The sort of closing remarks would be the development and

[00:43:53] success of African football is a collective endeavor that requires the support and involvement of all stakeholders so whether you're a player, a coach, a business leader, a government official you know you all have a role to play in shaping the future of sport on the continent

[00:44:08] so with this it's like you know encouraging everybody to get involved in these sporting initiatives supporting young talents advocate for investments in sports and infrastructure you know let's work together for developmental programs as I said with my African proverb you

[00:44:21] know if we go if we go alone you won't go far if we go together we can accomplish a lot. What a great way to close today's conversation thank you James and Kingsley for showing your insight into Rainbow Sports Global's innovative approach to African football and

[00:44:37] football development it's clear your commitment to excellence talent development is making a significant impact inside and outside of the continent so it's been a pleasure having you on the podcast today and look forward to seeing how things develop in the near future.

[00:44:55] Thanks for having us and the pleasure is mine. Perfect Terza yeah cheers thank you. Thank you to everyone who has listened and stayed tuned to the podcast if you've enjoyed this episode

[00:45:06] please subscribe share or tell a friend about it you can also rate review us in Apple podcast or wherever you download your podcast thank you and see you next week for the Unlocking Africa podcast.