Our 'In Conversation with..." series takes a deep dive into some of the leaders and trailblazers both on and off the field. What makes them tick and some insight into the journey they have embarked upon.

Our guest for this episode is Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder, Chairman & Owner of APO Group, Africa's only Pan-African Communications Consultancy. Nicolas has built APO Group to what it is today, working with leading brands across various sectors. He himself is also a pioneer and advocate for pushing and influencing the African narrative.

We discussed Nicolas's early years in how he started APO Group, the journey it has taken and what lessons he has learnt along the way that would be valuable to other entrepreneurs navigating the Pan-African space.

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Our 'In Conversation with..." series takes a deep dive into some of the leaders and trailblazers both on and off the field. What makes them tick and some insight into the journey they have embarked upon.

Our first Episode with the Dr Seun Adigun, the 1st African bobsled driver to compete at the Winter Olympics & the Founder of Bobsled & Skeleton Federation Nigeria.

We discussed her early years in sport, her transition to Winter sports and her current focus of building Bobsled & Skeleton in Nigeria as well as being a key person in the sports, entertainment and culture for the diaspora.

Timestamp:

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In this episode of the Africa Sports Unified Sports Business Podcast, Gabriel Ajala and Gary Rathbone, Founder of Sportscape Media, sat down to discuss the recent topics within the sports industry. For this episode, the focus was on the growing influence and links between Saudi Arabia and their recent partnership with CAF and other African Football Associations. We also touched on The Basketball Africa League Season 3 and how this has impacted the landscape.

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In this episode of the ASU Sports Business Podcast, we sat down with the Head of Women's Football at CAF, Meskerem Tadesse Goshime to discuss the recently published CAF Women's Football Landscape Report 2022.

This is the first of its kind report produced by CAF which highlighted the current landscape for each Member Association focused on 3 main areas:

• Development & Participation
• Leagues & Competitions
• Structure & Governance

Our conversation followed the same structure of the report as Meskerem shed some light on each section and the overall benefit of this ground breaking report for Women's Football in Africa.

Timestamp:

Development & Participation - 12:30

• Disparity of level of participation between each Member Association
• What platform is best used to register players?
• How CAF are getting more A Licensed coaches?
• The importance of having a Women’s Football team across U15; U17; U20 & Senior teams?
• Any clear correlations in the success for Member Associations who had teams at all levels?

Leagues & Competitions - 32:15

• Would all top divisions be ideally run by Member Associations?
• What impact does having a titled sponsor have on the sustainability of Women’s Football?
• Importance of regular competitions & matches for Women’s Football?
• Other strategies in place to increase the professionalism  of Women’s Football in CAF?

Structure & Governance - 48:00

• How can the level of engagement on social media improve from the Member Associations?
• Are there plans in place to support this?
• Do CAF currently provide any assistance with marketing strategies?

• How would this Landscape report impact the next Women’s Football Strategy plan? - 54:15
• How are CAF collaborating with FIFA on developing Women’s Football? - 58:10
• What is CAF’s biggest achievement & biggest area for improvement? - 1:00:00

Report Link:

https://www.cafonline.com/media/blqoecjt/j7yammymfbnastpjdbfe.pdf

In collaboration with the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) we look at How sport can support the inclusive implementation of the AfCFTA. The African Continental Free Trade Area is the largest single market in the world comprising of 54 member nations as Africa looks to continue its economic growth.

In our 3rd Podcast of the series, Dr Daniel Kelly & Gabriel Ajala produced a round-up of the key findings from their second research project on Youth Entrepreneurship & Consumer Engagement as well as their overall thoughts; findings and recommendations on how the African sports industry and the AfCFTA can further work in tandem to grow, create opportunities and develop economies.

Speakers:

Dr Daniel Kelly

Gabriel Ajala

Timestamp

-       Introduction: 00:00 – 04:11

-       Research Report 2 Analysis: 05:10 – 07:40

-       Sports Manufacturing: 07:50 – 12:51

-       Sharing best Practice: 13:00 – 16:35

-       Government Support & The Basketball Africa League: 16:50 – 23:15

-       Women in sports: 24:45 – 29:45

-       Youth Entrepreneurship & Technology: 30:00 – 35:45

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In this episode of the ASU Sports Business Podcast, we sat down with the former defensive midfield maestro now Director of Member Associations Africa for FIFA, Gelson Fernandes, as we discussed the latest cycle of the FIFA Forward Programme.

Launched in January 2023, FIFA Forward 3.0 is the latest cycle of the fund offered to member associations in order to help them develop football in their respective countries with the key categories for investment being Infrastructure; Competitions; Capacity Building; National Teams & Subventions; Other Projects.

Our conversation focused on how African Member Associations can best make the most of this new cycle of FIFA Forward and the plans that Gelson and his team have in growing the level of football in Africa.

Timestamp:

- Introduction: 00:00 - 6:40

- How has FF transformed football for African Member Associations: 9:00 - 11:15

- Changes from FIFA Forward 2.0 & FIFA Forward 3.0: 11:25 - 13:50

- Process of how FIFA Forward funds are allocated or ascertained by the Federations: 14:00 - 16:17

- How best should the Federations allocate the resources: 16:40 - 24:15

- Good examples of how FIFA Forward funds have been used & strategies to engage with the Member Associations on ground: 24:37 - 32:15

- Questions from the floor: 32:20 - 36.30

- The importance of the workshop in Paris for Member Associations: 36:40 - 42:55

- What falls under the “Other Projects” category: 43:00 - 43:55

- Are there any key deadlines that Member Association’s need to be aware of: 44:00 - 45:25

- Investment into Women’s Football: 45:30 - 48:50

- How much is the 2026 World Cup an incentive for African Member Associations to create more history for Africa: 49:00 - 51:55

- Questions from the floor: 52:00 - 57:30

- What is your future for African Member Associations: 57:35 - 59:52

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With the ABBA Formula E circuit taking place in Cape Town for the first time in February 2023, this is evident of the technological innovations advancing the sports industry and impacting how we consume and engage with sports.

This series will look at how key innovations in technology & sustainability have improved the sporting landscape for both business and consumer. With a dedicated focus each day, we will delve into each subject matter.

In our 3rd and final episode of the series, we heard from FIFA on how their new FIFA+ & FIFA Digital Skills platform is helping African Associations. The FIFA Digital Skills Platform was recently launched to help Member Associations develop their expertise in all things digital. Formed as a byproduct of FIFA+, this webinar provided insight into the purpose of FIFA's digitalisation plan and how this platform can best help African Member Associations.  

Speakers: 

Dave Roberts - Head of MA Digital Services, FIFA+ 

Solomon Mudege - Head of Development Programmes Africa, FIFA

FIFA Digital Skills Platform: https://fifadigitalskills.org/

Timestamp:

- Intro: 00.30 - 4:07

- FIFA’s drive towards Digital: 4:10 - 6:00

- What Solution is FIFA Digital Skills Solving: 6:10 - 9:00

- How has the roll out and adoption of FIFA+ been & implications of Digital Skills?: 9:15 - 10:45

- How does Digital Skills benefit the African Member Associations?: 11:19 - 14:00

- Why are CAF early adopters?: 14:15 - 16:20

- How does it help the day-to-day running for the MA’s?: 16:30 - 19:57

- Is the platform accessible to anyone else outside of Member Associations?: 20:10 - 23:40

- What is the onboarding process like?: 24:00 - 25:28

- How flexible can the platform become?: 25:40 - 27:45

- What does the roadmap look like to stay ahead of the always moving digital curve?: 27:55 - 35:25

- What problems does this platform help African Associations overcome?: 36:50 - 40:15

- Will skills be recognised as a formal FIFA accreditation?: 42:20 - 44:00

- Metrics on engagement with the Digital Skills Platform: 45:00 - 46:10

- The importance of understanding valuable Data: 46:50 - 48:50

- Do FIFA offer support to local networks?: 49:00 - 50:20

- How can FIFA Digital Skills help accelerate growth and development in Africa?: 51:15 - 53:20

- How can organisations outside of Member Associations gain access to the platform?: 53:40 - 55:55

- What’s Next?: 56:00 - 56:56

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With the ABBA Formula E circuit taking place in Cape Town for the first time in February 2023, this is evident of the technological innovations advancing the sports industry and impacting how we consume and engage with sports.

This series will look at how key innovations in technology & sustainability have improved the sporting landscape for both business and consumer. With a dedicated focus each day, we will delve into each subject matter.

In our 2nd episode of the series, we heard from the Sisu Sports Management team about their new platform: Uburu Africa. Uburu Africa is a college recruitment tool developed by SISU Africa aimed at increasing players’ accessibility to US college recruitment staff.

Speakers:

Lindi Ngwenya - Founder, Uburu Africa

Doeju Momolu Goodluck - Co-Founder, Uburu Africa

Moses Aweda - CTO Sisu Sports Manegement

Uburu Africa Website: https://www.uburuafrica.com/

- Intro: 00:00 - 03:55

- Lindi Ngwenya on her experience with Sisu Sports Management: 03:55 - 10:45

- Moses discussing his experience building the platform: 16:45 - 22:35

- Importance of Data Analytics in player acquisition: 22:35 - 30:15

- Tool used to capture the data of players: 30:15 - 35:40

- How organisations deal with broadcast rights: 35:40 - 39:05

- How partners are onboarded to the Uburu network: 39:05 - 44:00

- How the onboarding process works for the collages in the USA: 44:00 - 52:45

- Hurdles they face: 54:32 - 58:30

- What the future holds for Uburu Africa: 58:30 - 01:00:30

Keep up to date with what we are doing by:

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With the ABBA Formula E circuit taking place in Cape Town for the first time in February 2023, this is evident of the technological innovations advancing the sports industry and impacting how we consume and engage with sports.

This series will look at how key innovations in technology & sustainability have improved the sporting landscape for both business and consumer. With a dedicated focus each day, we will delve into each subject matter.

In our 1st episode of the series, we heard from the heart of the eSports industry in Africa in understanding the landscape and trajetcory of the industry. Gamers in Africa grew from 77 million in 2015 to 186 million in 2022 and so we have seen an exponential growth in the space especially amongst the younger generations on the continent.

Speakers:

Ade Jinadu - Head of Marketing & Data, Gamr

Sayo Owolabi - General Secretary, Africa eSports Development Federation

Onyeka Cindy Ojogbo - Director, Centurion Law

Timestamp:

- Intro: 00.00 - 03:05

- Journey of Gamr Africa: 03:05 - 07:00

- Challenges on capturing data: 7:00 - 11:40

- Opportunities in eSports: 11:40 - 15:00

- The role of AEDF: 15:00 - 23:10

- Governance issues in eSports: 23:10 - 29:40

- Concerns of the current market: 29:40 - 35:40

- Importance of education: 35:40 - 37:50

- Q&A: 37:50 - 01:05:50

- Saudi Arabia & Malaysia having stable eSport ecosystems: 01:05:50 - 01:10:15

Links:

Gamr - https://gamr.africa/

Global eSports Federation - https://www.globalesports.org/

Centurion Law Group - https://centurionlg.com/

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In our third and final episode of our Women in Sports Series, we focused on the importance of leadership and having women take up positions of leadership. We have seen countries with growing economies have women in positions of leadership. Can this be translated in Sports? What is the benefit of doing so and how can we play our part in supporting such? 

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