African athletes are global stars in football, track and field, and marathons — yet their success rarely benefits the continent itself. Many receive sports scholarships from Western universities, compete under foreign flags, or sign contracts with football clubs in Europe, the United States, and the Gulf states.
Professor Lumumba calls this phenomenon ‘sporting colonisation’. Talent scouts from Europe and elsewhere actively recruit promising African children for training in overseas academies. In the meantime, corruption and minimal investment in sport across African countries drive many adult athletes to change their citizenship in search of financial support and better training conditions. As a result, Africa loses not only medals but also the vast revenue its sporting industry could generate.
Professor Lumumba believes the situation can only change through greater investment and by holding major competitions under the leadership of the African Union. Only then, he says, can sport become a powerful and self-sustaining sector of the continent’s economy.
