In late 2017 Brazilian legend Pele declared that there was no reason why an African nation shouldn't win a World Cup before the end of the century. While it is impossible to look that far into the future, the fact is that this statement says more about the state of current African football than it does about what happens in the 2100 tournament.

There is no shortage of African talent playing at all levels of European (and increasingly global) football. Most of the elite clubs have at least a couple of world-class African players on their squad roster. Yet the likes of Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa haven't made much of an impact in recent years. Why is this?

Primarily it comes down to money. African domestic leagues are routinely pillaged of any promising talent by European clubs who offer far superior coaching facilities and training contracts. Consequently, the standard of African club football is at best second rate - but there are signs that investment is starting to trickle into the sport and make a real difference.

British company Betway are leading the way in sponsoring not just clubs but also initiating improvements to infrastructure, coaching and youth facilities in a growing number of African nations. Sure the top stars are still going to head overseas, but in the longer term, the hope is to offer not just a far greater quality of football for home supporters to enjoy, but also improve the overall performance at international level. How does Betway intend to play a role in helping to deliver this?

Sponsorship Of Top African Clubs & Potentially Leagues

Already Betway has enjoyed sponsor partnerships with the likes of Ashanti Gold and AFC Leopard with likely plenty more to follow. This has been the focus of their marketing campaign when expanding into every other fresh marketplace. Sponsor top teams, gain exposure and encourage the money to be invested towards improving the product on the pitch and allowing to bet on international football games with Betway

At first glance, this may seem a little exclusive - but as has been shown in other leagues, a proportion of the money big clubs receive does eventually trickle down to the grassroots. But is it enough to make a real difference alone? Probably not, which is why Betway have also started to invest considerable sums in developing programs to improve facilities and coaching standards at the junior level. Already this has been considerably successful in Kenya and Ghana - with similar initiatives expected to soon be announced for Nigeria and South Africa.

The real money though would be in sponsoring an entire league. At the moment the financial outlay is probably a little too high for Betway - but in a few years when more fans are using their app and their revenues increase - it is far from out of the question that this could occur. If such a scenario comes around, the sponsorship funds would be distributed to less fashionable clubs as well - and eventually/hopefully create an overall more professional and ambitious domestic league structure.

The Betway Sports Network & Africa

It is no secret that Betway has considerable numbers of financial deals in place with a host of European clubs. All of these teams are constantly on the lookout for the next George Weah or Cedric Bakambu, so what better way to sourcing such talent than by striking up partnerships? After all, top European clubs have had networks of 'feeder' arrangements with smaller teams for decades - so why not extend this to Africa? There is also a precedent for this (Ajax Cape Town being likely the best known) so why not use a shared sponsor to make such partnerships more commonplace?

What would African clubs get for this? Already Betway has begun the early stages of establishing exchange programs between African and European coaching staff. This has even been extended to players, which is a certainty to be expanded over the next few years. The more European clubs can be encouraged to invest in their African counterparts, the better African football is going to get both in home leagues and internationally. Betway is intending to be central to this progress, and are better placed than anyone else to help make it happen.