Mustapha Yussif
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Yussif, has initiated a drive to woo private sector sponsorship for our national teams.
This drive started with a breakfast meeting between government and some private sector organisations at the Jubilee House few days ago.
The second breakfast meeting was held at the Jubilee House with key stakeholders in the banking sector in Ghana. The meeting was graced by President Akufo-Addo, who is committed towards ensuring that the needed support is obtained to develop the sporting sector of Ghana.
The government acknowledges the fact that due to constraint on the public purse, some strategic partnerships and sponsorship is needed to relieve the government of the financial burden of solely providing for all sporting disciplines in the country.
The minister has estimated a budget of $25m for all national teams involving the Black Stars preparation for next year’s AFCON, World Cup and all other engagements. The junior national teams are also expected to benefit from these sponsorship packages.
Addressing the gathering, the minister indicated that sports development goes a long way to benefit multiple sectors of the economy.
This, he believes, has necessitated the need to involve the private sector to help develop our sports and to provide the right linkages to ensure that the country is getting the best out of the talents of our youth.
The government has subsequently been increasing the budgetary allocation to the ministry, and this year is no exception. The minister also indicated that the increasing demand for improvement within the sporting sector had necessitated the need for alternative funding.
He said, “In spite of the appreciable increase in the sports sector’s budgetary allocations in the past four years, there is still the need for alternative funding to guarantee sustainable development in sports in the country, and also to help government finance the ever-increasing cost of funding our national football teams, especially the Black Stars.”
President Akufo-Addo also emphasised the need for the private sector to support the government develop a sports industry in Ghana, and also to help fund the various national teams in the country. He reiterated his government’s commitment by declaring a $10m support to the $25m estimated budget of all national teams.
He also highlighted the need to distribute the budgetary allocation for the ministry equitably to the over 40 sports disciplines in the country.
Several breakfast meeting is expected to be held towards raising the estimated budget.
From The Sports Desk