African entrepreneurs are not just sitting in the stands anymore; they are buying the clubs, running the strategy, and shaping the global game.
The trend of Africans owning football clubs across Europe, the United States, and Africa itself is creating headlines, disrupting traditional football ownership structures, and redefining how the sport connects with culture, business, and talent development.
These are not symbolic gestures. They are bold, strategic moves backed by billionaires, entrepreneurs, musicians, and visionaries who see football as both a passion and a platform.
This article examines the top African-owned football clubs making global headlines, looking at the owners, their vision, and why their investments matter not just for African football but for the global game.
Table of Contents
Kunle Soname – C.D. Feirense (Portugal) and Remo Stars (Nigeria)
Kunle Soname is a pioneer in every sense of the word. In 2015, he became the first Nigerian to own a European football club when he acquired C.D. Feirense, a Portuguese side that plays in the Liga Portugal 2.
It was a landmark move, placing an African investor in direct control of a European football institution.
Back home, Kunle Soname had already established Remo Stars FC, based in Ikenne, Ogun State. The club has become one of the fastest-growing teams in Nigeria, with a clear vision for nurturing young players.
Soname’s dual ownership model is not just about prestige. It is a calculated strategy to create a pipeline for African talent.
Players groomed at Remo Stars can be transferred seamlessly into the European football market through Feirense, cutting out the exploitative middlemen that often hinder African football exports.
Through his betting empire Bet9ja, Soname has also contributed financially to the Nigerian sports sector, making his football ownership part of a broader sports business portfolio. His approach demonstrates how African investors can use sports as both an economic and cultural asset.
Nneka Ede – Lusitano Ginásio Clube (Portugal)
In 2020, Nneka Ede made history as the first African woman to own a European football club when she purchased Lusitano Ginásio Clube, a Portuguese third-division side.
Her ownership broke multiple barriers—not only as a woman in the male-dominated world of football but also as a Nigerian taking control of a European club.
Ede’s vision was clear: to provide opportunities for African players to compete on European soil. By investing in a historic Portuguese club, she positioned herself as a key bridge between African talent and European football.
It was not charity. It was a business-savvy move that also carried symbolic weight for African women in leadership.
Her ownership continues to inspire younger African entrepreneurs and women to see sports as a space where they can invest, lead, and thrive.
Tems (Temilade Openiyi) – San Diego FC (USA, MLS)
Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Tems stunned the world in 2025 when she joined the ownership group of San Diego FC, a Major League Soccer franchise. This move instantly made her the first African woman to hold stakes in an MLS club.
Tems’ entry into football ownership represents more than celebrity investment. It signals a growing convergence between entertainment and sports, especially in the United States.
For MLS, having a global African music star in its ownership group adds cultural influence and strengthens the league’s brand in Africa. For Tems, it is a chance to diversify her portfolio, invest in sports infrastructure, and build an enduring legacy beyond music.
It also shows how the younger generation of Africans is willing to step into industries traditionally dominated by old money and old rules. Tems embodies the new wave, youthful, bold, and unafraid of global expansion.
Sola Akinlade – Sporting Lagos (Nigeria) and Aarhus Fremad (Denmark)
Sola Akinlade, co-founder of Paystack, is another Nigerian visionary using football as a bridge between continents. In 2022, he launched Sporting Lagos, a club designed to be community-driven, professional, and innovative in its structure.
The goal was not only to compete but also to reshape how Nigerian football is run. A year later, in 2023, Akinlade shocked the football world by acquiring a 55 percent stake in Aarhus Fremad, a Danish second-tier club.
This acquisition was no vanity project. It created a direct pipeline for Sporting Lagos players to transition into European football without needing to rely on agents or unverified deals.
Akinlade’s ownership demonstrates how African tech entrepreneurs are diversifying beyond fintech and into industries that allow them to influence culture, create opportunities for young people, and strengthen Africa’s global footprint.
Sporting Lagos is already gaining traction as one of Nigeria’s most modern football projects, and the Aarhus Fremad partnership makes it a global story.
Eniola Aluko – FC Como Women (Italy)
Eniola Aluko, a former England international of Nigerian descent, entered football ownership through her role in the Mercury 13 investment group that took over FC Como Women in Italy.
Aluko’s presence is historic because she became one of the first African women to sit at the decision-making table of a European top-flight women’s football club.
Her expertise as a former professional player and sports executive brings credibility to the project. With women’s football growing rapidly worldwide, Aluko’s involvement ensures African voices are represented at the highest levels of strategic growth.
For African women aspiring to break barriers in sports management, her story is a beacon of possibility.
Kingsley Pungong – MFK Vyškov (Czech Republic) and Rainbow FC (Cameroon/Kenya)
Cameroonian businessman Kingsley Pungong founded Rainbow Sports Global, a sports management company with a clear mission: to identify, groom, and promote African talent to the global market.
Under this vision, he acquired MFK Vyškov in the Czech Republic in 2017. The club became a staging ground for African players to adapt to European football before moving on to bigger leagues.
Though Pungong sold MFK Vyškov in 2024, his model has already proven its worth. His company also owns Rainbow FC in Cameroon and Kenya, further showing his commitment to grassroots football in Africa.
Pungong’s system is a textbook example of how Africans can control the full value chain of player development, from scouting to European placement, without depending entirely on foreign academies.
Samih Sawiris – FC Luzern (Switzerland)
Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris, known for his investments in real estate and tourism, made a bold move into European football by purchasing a 12.5 percent stake in Swiss club FC Luzern in 2011.
While his ownership is not as loud as some of the newer African investors, it was groundbreaking at the time.
Sawiris showed that African billionaires could play in the same arena as their European counterparts, using football both as a business venture and as a cultural bridge.
His investment in Luzern also paved the way for future African investors to consider European football clubs as viable assets.
Patrice Motsepe – Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Patrice Motsepe is one of the most influential figures in African football. He acquired Mamelodi Sundowns in 2003, and under his leadership, the club has dominated the South African Premier Soccer League and won the CAF Champions League.
Motsepe’s ownership extends beyond personal investment. As president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), he has become one of the central figures shaping the governance and future of African football.
His dual role as both club owner and continental leader gives him unmatched influence.
Mamelodi Sundowns are now one of the most successful and professional football clubs in Africa, and they continue to make international headlines through their performances in the African Football League and FIFA tournaments.
Motsepe’s model combines deep pockets, professionalism, and a long-term vision for African football.
Akosua Puni Essien – Como (Italy)
In 2017, the African wife of former Ghanaian star Michael Essien bought Italian club Como. She is the first African woman who owns a European men’s football club, although her reign was short-lived.
Her possession was nominal. It demonstrated that African women were able to emerge into the ownership aspect even in the very competitive sphere of men’s football.
Although the monetary conditions of Como did not grant her much to accomplish, her risky gesture remains known as a turning point in African sports entrepreneurship.
Don Jazzy and D’banj – Supremos FC and Koko FC (Nigeria)
Don Jazzy and D’banj, the music moguls in Nigeria, moved the competition between them off the stage and into the field.
Don Jazzy established Supremos FC in 2024, and D’banj soon after that established Koko FC. The two clubs joined the Liga 2024 in Nigeria, which had huge prize money and publicity.
Some critics see these as a publicity gimmick, but they point to a bigger picture that is African entertainers are now investing in football as a means to grow their brands, engage with their fans, and allow new talent to emerge throughout the grassroots.
Since football is the most widely played sport in Nigeria, this activity guarantees the local football contests more participation and exposure for the youngsters.
Why These Clubs Matter
The emergence of African football clubs is important in a number of ways. One, they make direct pipelines of African players to reach international markets.
Rather than depending on foreign academies and agents alone, African-owned clubs in foreign countries provide a platform for organised African talent.
Second, these ownership stories are rescripting the cultural narrative. Still, there are not only billionaires such as Motsepe and Sawiris; there are also entertainers Tems, Don Jazzy, and D’banj, to demonstrate to us that not only businessmen are capable of investing in football.
Now it is a world stage where the Africans are able to shape governance, culture, and trade.
Third, women are busting through. Nneka Ede, Akosua Puni Essien, and Eniola Aluko are proving that African women can be the future of football in the world as leaders, investors, and creators of the football magic.
They are as symbolic as they are practical with their moves and an inspiration to the coming generation of African women leaders.
Lastly, there is African ownership that depicts a greater economic reality. The African economies are expanding, and the business people are diversifying; therefore, the football business makes a rational investment.
It is both mass and has the chance of creating long-term financial and cultural impact.
What to Expect in the Future
In the future, the trend of African ownership in football will continue to increase even more. The number of tech entrepreneurs will rise, and with their funds, they will establish systematic clubs that will act as academies.
The entertainers will invest in football in order to enhance their presence in both entertainment and sports. Increased numbers of women will become stakeholders, making inroads into the boardrooms hitherto restricted to them.
In the case of Africa itself, the actual problem will be to find a way to match those global ownership narratives with local reforms. The governance, transparency, and infrastructure have to be upgraded throughout the African leagues to maintain talent and to attract even larger investments.
Provided that these problems are resolved, African-owned football clubs may be exemplary not only to the continent but also to the global football organization.
Conclusion
It is the era of the African-owned football clubs. It is no longer just about Africans playing football for respective top teams.
They are now dominating the game as Patrice Motsepe does in the Mamelodi Sundowns, as Tems does in the MLS, Kunle Soname in Portugal to Sola Akinlade in technology.
Africans are now the leaders in the future of football in the world. It has nothing to do with charity, symbolism, or vanity. It is tact, power, and vision.
That is something that piques the interest of the football world; the aspect of African ownership is here to stay. It marks the onset of a power redistribution in the world, Africa itself playing its own gamebook.
