Fashola Urges Greater Grassroots Sports Investment to Unlock Africa’s Trillion-Dollar Sports Economy
Former Lagos State Governor and former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has called on Nigerian and African policymakers to make deliberate investments in grassroots sports development, describing the sector as a gateway to the global trillion-dollar sports economy.
Fashola made the call while speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the grand finale of the 2026 ITTF Africa Youth Cup held at the Borteyman Sports Complex.
He praised the quality of talent displayed throughout the competition, describing the tournament as compelling evidence of Africa’s immense sporting potential.
According to Fashola, the performances of the young athletes reaffirmed his belief that Africa possesses abundant human resources capable of producing world-class champions with the right investment and structured development.
“I am particularly thrilled by the display of these young talents. It shows that our continent is rich in human resources when it comes to sports. Looking at what happened in Accra, I could see raw talents that only need refining to become world-class,” Fashola said.
He also commended the leadership of ITTF Africa, led by Wahid Oshodi, for successfully organising the championship and expressed hope that similar youth-focused initiatives would be replicated across other sports.
“I must commend the leadership of ITTF Africa led by Wahid Oshodi for putting up a good show for the world to see, and I hope this can be replicated in other sports,” he added.
During the tournament, Fashola was honoured for his contributions to the revival and growth of table tennis in Africa.
As Governor of Lagos State, he supported the establishment of the Lagos Table Tennis Classic, which later evolved into the Nigeria Open and has since grown into the internationally recognised WTT Contender Lagos.
Highlighting Africa’s youthful population as one of its greatest assets,
Fashola urged governments to view sports as a strategic economic sector capable of driving employment, wealth creation and national development.
“Looking at Africa’s strength as the continent with the youngest people in the world, investing in sport will help us immensely.”
“These young people can earn a lot from sports. As we know, sports is now a trillion-dollar industry globally.”
“If we deliberately invest in grassroots sports development, we can truly benefit as a continent.”
Fashola concluded by urging policymakers across Nigeria and Africa to adopt long-term sports development policies that will create jobs, nurture elite athletes and unlock the enormous economic opportunities available within the global sports industry.
