{"id":3672,"date":"2026-09-10T16:45:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=3672"},"modified":"2026-09-10T16:45:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:45:03","slug":"africa-earns-just-a-fraction-of-global-sports-money-mukazayire-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/10\/africa-earns-just-a-fraction-of-global-sports-money-mukazayire-says\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa earns just a fraction of global sports money, Mukazayire says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"976\" height=\"717\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/whatsapp_image_2026-09-10_at_5.15_07_pm-2784e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/whatsapp_image_2026-09-10_at_5.15_07_pm-2784e.jpg 976w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/whatsapp_image_2026-09-10_at_5.15_07_pm-2784e-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/whatsapp_image_2026-09-10_at_5.15_07_pm-2784e-768x564.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 976px) 100vw, 976px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Africa earns about $12 billion a year from sport, a small share of the estimated $2.3 trillion generated by the global sports industry, Rwanda\u2019s Sports Minister Nelly Mukazayire said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mukazayire said the figures show the continent is yet to make full use of its sporting talent, young population and infrastructure, calling for greater investment to increase the economic contribution of sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She was speaking at the SportsBiz Africa Forum 2026, which is taking place at the Kigali Convention Centre from Sept. 9 to 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mukazayire said sport contributes about 0.5% to Africa\u2019s gross domestic product, compared with 2.5% to 3% in some other markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She questioned why African countries could not raise the contribution to 2.5% and eventually 5%, given the opportunities available and the continent\u2019s large youth population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have opportunities, but instead of using them at home, we take them elsewhere,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to invest in talent. We should not overlook infrastructure because it is an investment that generates income.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also called for greater efforts to increase the value of existing sports facilities and other assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christian Gakwaya, director general of Rwanda Events, which organised the forum, said Africa needed to look beyond sporting results and entertainment if the sector is to generate more jobs and income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe time has come for Africa to go beyond playing well, winning trophies and entertaining fans,\u201d Gakwaya said, urging stakeholders to examine who benefits financially from the sports industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the forum was intended to help stakeholders find answers to those questions and explore how sport can create jobs and improve people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investors were encouraged to consider the sector, with speakers pointing to opportunities that remain largely untapped across African sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa earns about $12 billion a year from sport, a small share of the estimated $2.3 trillion generated by the global sports industry, Rwanda\u2019s Sports [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,43,41,36,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news","category-current_affairs","category-hot_topics","category-international","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3676,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions\/3676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}