Unlock Africa’s potential with power of purpose-driven sports sponsorship

Businesses across Africa must rethink corporate sponsorships and move from brand visibility, marketing reach and media impressions metrics to purpose-driven partnerships metrics.

Unlike traditional sponsorships, purpose-driven sports sponsorships adopt a comprehensive approach that assesses financial returns and non-financial metrics to evaluate their effectiveness and demonstrate a genuine commitment to social change.

To succeed, African businesses should adopt strategies that can create meaningful and impactful sponsorships.

They must align sponsorships with local needs by partnering with sports initiatives that promote health, wellness, education, youth development, and foster community engagement.

Secondly, they should also forge genuine partnerships with sports organisations, grassroots athletes and local communities to create meaningful and inclusive impact.

Finally, they must embed social impact metrics in the return on sponsorship investment measurement.

Purpose-driven sports sponsorship models are growing in Africa: We have witnessed a strengthening of grassroots sports participation across Africa, providing opportunities for young athletes to not only develop their skills but also address social issues, such as promoting community development.

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For 22 years, the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon—the largest in East Africa—has brought together more than 300,000 runners raising more than Sh850 million ($5.8 million) for life-changing youth programmes across Kenya.

Through Futuremakers by Standard Chartered initiative, the marathon supports disadvantaged young people, especially women and persons with disabilities, to gain skills and improve their chances of getting a job or starting their own businesses. Focusing on education, employability and entrepreneurship, Futuremakers aims to help the next generation to learn, earn and grow.

But the private sector cannot do this in isolation. Private sector collaboration with government is often essential for maximising the impact of purpose-driven sports sponsorships. By pooling resources, expertise, and reach, public-private partnerships can deliver social value at a scale that neither party could achieve alone.

Sports should no longer be an afterthought for African businesses. It is a powerful engine for opportunity, inclusion and development that demands purposeful investment and collaboration.

Businesses choosing impact-driven sponsorship are not only advancing their own brands but helping to create a more equitable and hopeful Africa for generations to come.

Increasingly, African governments are beginning to recognise the economic force of sports and their subsequent participation. Policy plans like Kenya’s Sports Strategic Plan 2023–2027, similar frameworks in Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana welcome for greater private sector participation in sports development. This is a win-win.

Globally, the sports industry is valued at over Sh50 trillion ($342 million) and projected to reach Sh70 trillion ($479 million) by 2030. In contrast, Kenya’s national economic reports rarely acknowledge sport as a contributor to GDP or employment, revealing just how overlooked the sector remains.

The author is Standard Chartered’s Managing Director and CEO - Kenya & Africa