When we get intentional about Sports Development the dividends will be more than cocoa - Reginald Seth Dogbey

GHANA'S SPORTS DEVELOPMENT PLAN: WHERE IS IT?

Sport is no longer just entertainment. It is a multi-billion-dollar global industry that has overtaken many traditional economies in size.

According to the Best-Howard Model of the global sports economy, the entire sports industry is projected to hit $3.05 trillion in 2026. Even by conservative estimates, the core sports market alone is valued at $444.4 billion in 2025 and $500 billion in 2026, growing to $743 billion by 2034. Sports tourism alone will be worth $989 billion in 2026, while the global sports event market will be $485.1 billion in 2025.

To put it in perspective, the entire GDP of Africa is about $2.9 trillion. Sport as an industry is bigger than Africa's economy.

Yet Ghana, our dear country, blessed with abundant, raw, world-class talent from boxing to athletics to football, is not able to leverage this to support our economy. It pains me to say this, but we are sitting on gold and chasing dust.

I can say with confidence that when we get intentional about sports development, the dividends will be more than cocoa has given us in the last 5 years. Ghana's cocoa brings us about $2.5 - $3.5 billion annually. A well-structured sports economy can do three times that - through athlete exports, sports tourism, merchandising, media rights, academies, and hosting.

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM

The truth is, Ghana has never had a coherent, long-term National Sports Development Plan backed by law, funding, and expertise.

For years, we have operated on ad-hoc football administration. One of the greatest challenges to the development of sports in this country is that we have sports managers who claim to have all the knowledge about the industry and will not give space to development brains to help develop the industry.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports is often padded with people with little or no knowledge about sports except that, in some cases, they have a history of football administration. They know football politics, but they do not know sports business, sports science, sports economics, or youth development.

SIGNS OF HOPE - BUT WILL WE GET IT RIGHT?

There are recent positive signals:

1. Sports Development Fund Bill: In December 2025, Parliament passed the long-awaited Ghana Sports Fund Bill to create a multi-source, performance-driven fund for athlete welfare and infrastructure.

2. National Sports Policy: The Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Adams, has assured Parliament that the new National Sports Policy will finally be ready by Q1 2026.

3. School Sports Authority: President Mahama has announced a National Schools Sports Authority to oversee competitive sports from basic to university level to identify talent early.

4. Infrastructure: Government announced in the 2026 Budget that construction of 3 new modern stadia will begin in 2026 for the eight regions still without such facilities.

These are commendable. But laws and stadia alone do not create an industry.

WHAT AN INTENTIONAL PLAN MUST INCLUDE

If we are serious about making sports our next cocoa, our plan must shift from sports administration to sports development and sports business.

1. A National Talent Identification System: A scientific database of talents from inter-school, district, and regional competitions linked to the National Sports College and the proposed Sports University.

2. Sports as Business: We must commercialize our leagues. E-ticketing, merchandising, media rights, and proper club licensing must be non-negotiable.

3. Human Capital Development: We need to train sports managers, not just football managers. Ghana needs experts in sports medicine, sports nutrition, sports psychology, data scouting, and facility management.

4. Private Sector Engine: Government cannot fund sports alone. The new Fund must be overseen by an independent board with accountability and must incentivize private academies and corporate sponsorship.

Until we stop seeing sports as just the Black Stars winning on Saturday and start seeing it as a value chain that can employ thousands of our youth and earn foreign exchange, we will continue to waste our greatest natural resource - our people.

The time for a real National Sports Development Plan is now.

By Reginald Seth Dogbey
(Student of Critical Thinking, Project Development & Management, and Law)