The South African telecommunications giant has been a big supporter of soccer on the continent for many years, being involved with various leagues including the Ghanaian top flight. MTN was also the principal sponsor for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) before Orange took over a few tournaments back.
The leading supplier of cement in southern Africa, PPC, recently announced their sponsorship of COSAFA’s 2016 Under-20 championship. PPC have mentioned that they look forward to this sponsorship opportunity, as they will be involved with unearthing talent in Africa. The 2016 COSAFA U20 Youth Championship will be hosted in South Africa’s North West province in December. PPC have the option of renewing their sponsorship for a further three years.
In 2009 the Confederation of African Football (CAF) signed an eight-year agreement with French telecommunications giant Orange. The deal involved Orange being a sponsor of all major competitions on the continent affiliated to CAF. This includes the Africa Cup of Nations, the African Nations Championship, the African Youth Championship, the African Champions League, the Confederation Cup and the African Super Cup.
The South African bank with ties throughout the African continent has been involved in the AFCON tournament for some time, having signed an eight-year partnership deal with CAF to become to official financial services provider for African competitions. Standard Bank was the only African corporate sponsor for the 2010 Orange Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
Samsung has been a proud sponsor of CAF’s flagship competition, the AFCON, since 2008. They provide CAF with electronics and telecommunications equipment to support the successful hosting of the tournament. Samsung also organised the ‘Pop-Up Stadium’ concept in numerous African countries to offer soccer fans the opportunity to enjoy the matches and share their enthusiasm for the beautiful game outside of the host nation.
Pepsi is another of the big global brands involved in sponsoring African soccer through its partnership with CAF, and sponsorship of major CAF competitions such as the AFCON. The soft drink company has been part of the continental game for some time through their involvement in player sponsorship, teams and grassroots soccer promotion. PepsiCo has previously sponsored top African players such as Didier Drogba, Mohamed Abu Treika and Egypt’s Amr Zaki.
Globacom has been a major contributor to sport sponsorship in Nigeria since it established operations in 2003, committing resources to support the Nigerian national teams and the local top flight competition, which was known as the Glo Premier League for much of that time until recently. According to Goal, the company has spent over $40 million over the last 12 years supporting the Nigerian Premier League, though it recently ended sponsopship of the top flight after the 2016 Super Four football tournament.
The world famous sporting brand from Germany is a major sponsor of soccer around the globe, and Africa is no different, with the soccer balls for all CAF competitions supplied by the sports wear giant. AFCON competitions often have a special ball produced by Adidas that debuts at the tournament. such as the Adidas Marhaba, which was specially produced for use at the 2015 Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea. They certainly play their part to sponsor African soccer.
