Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Iddie Adams, has called for a fundamental reset of how Africa approaches sports development, urging governments and the media to stop treating sport as an afterthought and recognise it as a strategic economic sector.
Delivering a statement at the Opening Ceremony of the 8th AIPS Africa Congress in Banjul, Kofi Adams said Africa’s challenge is not a lack of talent or passion, but weak systems, limited commercialisation, and poor policy coordination.
He noted that while the global sports industry is valued at over USD 500 billion and contributes about 2 percent of GDP in advanced economies, Africa’s entire sports economy is estimated at just USD 12–15 billion, despite producing some of the world’s best athletes.
“We export talent cheaply, consume foreign sport expensively, and struggle to retain value at home,” the Minister said.
Adams pointed to mobility barriers, weak continental frameworks, and limited broadcast access as key constraints, adding that outside football, most African sports survive mainly on government support.
He commended countries such as Morocco, Senegal, Rwanda, and Tanzania for deliberate investments linking sport to infrastructure, tourism, and national branding, and urged other African states to follow suit.
Highlighting Ghana’s reforms, the Minister cited the return of the Ghana Premier League to free-to-air television, increased prize money to GHS 2 million for league champions, and the establishment of the Ghana Sports Fund (Act 1159) as steps to stabilise the domestic sports economy.
He also announced that Ghana will host the 24th African Senior Athletics Championships and the 15th African Armwrestling Championships, inviting African countries and the media to help reshape the continent’s sports narrative.
A significant portion of the address was directed at the media. Acknowledging the pressures of the digital age, the Minister urged sports journalists to balance speed with accuracy and depth.
“When reporting lacks balance and depth, it discourages fans, scares sponsors, and weakens entire ecosystems. Journalism must remain a tool for development, not destruction,” he said.
He called on African sports media to cover all sports, not only football, to tell the stories of rising athletes, and to embrace new media responsibly as partners in building sustainable sports economies.
The Minister concluded by posing hard questions to African governments and institutions: whether the continent is ready to remove mobility barriers, move beyond policy statements to enforceable frameworks, invest in fan culture and non-football disciplines, and treat sport as production and value creation rather than consumption.
“The opportunity is before us, the responsibility is ours”; he said.
