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Sports sponsorship in Africa 2: the international brands supporting African sports
By Riccardo Tafà| Posted May 8, 2019 | In Sport Sponsorship
By Riccardo Tafà| Posted May 8, 2019 | In Sport Sponsorship
Sports sponsorship in Africa 2: the international brands supporting African sports
Sports sponsorships continue to find tremendous opportunities in Africa: from supporting emerging sports to projects linked to youth academies, from local teams to national championships, sports sponsorship plays a crucial role in Africa, facilitating activities that, starting from grassroots, reach professional teams. This potential has been understood by companies from very different sectors, from energy giants to European energy drink companies.
TotalEnergies x Africa Cup of Nations
Since 2017, TotalEnergies, the French energy giant, has been the main sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations. The tournament, now known as the “TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations,” extended its partnership in January 2025 with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for another four years until 2028. Besides AFCON, the sponsorship covers 11 other CAF competitions, including school initiatives and youth programs. Other historic commercial partners include brands like Samsung, Canon, Nissan, Adidas, PepsiCo, Puma, and Standard Bank. TotalEnergies’ presence remains central to the development of African football.
Jungle Energy Drink x Ashanti Gold SC
Jungle Energy Drink, a German brand, maintains its commitment to Ashanti Gold SC, one of Ghana’s most renowned football teams. According to the latest news, their partnership, renewed in recent years, provides financial and product support to the team. Herbert Yeboah, CEO of the company importing Jungle, expressed intentions to expand the engagement in Ghanaian football, following a path already taken by companies like Pokoo and Betway, active in developing and supporting local football clubs.
Airtel x FUFA
Airtel, a telecommunications multinational with widespread operations across Africa, stands out for significant investments in sports, especially youth sports. The collaboration with the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) remains the largest sports sponsorship deal in Uganda’s history, extended in 2025 for another four years. The deal (estimated at $2.8 million) includes support for the senior national team, FUFA Juniors League, and the annual FUFA Awards. Elsewhere in Africa, Airtel continues to lead initiatives like Airtel Rising Stars, involving under-17 athletes in countries including Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and Malawi.
Volkswagen Motorsport Academy
Motorsport is gaining increasing space among sports sponsorships in Africa. Volkswagen continues its talent development project with the “Volkswagen Rookie Cup,” now in its third season in 2025. The program, active at circuits such as Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town, is dedicated to young drivers aged 14 to 16. The best are promoted to the competitive national Polo Cup. The current season highlights emerging talents, confirming Volkswagen’s growing interest in African motorsport.
Sport and Sponsorships in Africa: Is MotoGP Making a Comeback?
Africa boasts a significant tradition in motorsports; South Africa in particular has produced talents like Brad Binder, currently an official KTM MotoGP rider. Kork Ballington, a four-time world champion, remains a celebrated legend, while the dream of MotoGP returning to South Africa remains strong. However, as of July 31, 2025, no MotoGP races are scheduled in Africa for the 2025 season, although interest and pressure for a comeback are growing, fueled by local economic growth and public and sponsor appetite for a major global event.
Stay tuned: as soon as there are updates on sports sponsorships or the potential MotoGP return to Africa, we will inform you promptly.
Interested in learning more about sports sponsorship in Africa? Contact RTR Sports Marketing today at info@rtrsports.com
Riccardo Tafà
Managing Director for RTR Sports, Riccardo graduated in law at the University of Bologna. He began his career in London in PR, then started working in two and four-wheelers. A brief move to Monaco followed before returning to Italy. There he founded RTR, first a consulting firm and then a sports marketing company which, eventually, he moved back to London.
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Read MoreWhy choose RTR Sports Marketing
In an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
Save time and money
When first approaching a motorsport sponsorship project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Motorsport is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
The right information, the right choice
Motorsport is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A motorsport sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which racing series, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the beating heart
Activations are the real heart of motorsport sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a motorsport marketing project, you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase online, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Objective measurements for a certain return
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
Sit back, relax, we’ll take care of it
We have been involved in motorsport sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
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