Ahmed Elmohamady
The Sunderland A.F.C Black Cats recently announced an agreement with non-profit group Invest in Africa that will make the group the team’s official shirt sponsor. For the next two seasons, the English Premier League club will wear “Invest in Africa” on its jerseys. A number of the team’s players have roots in Africa, including last year’s team MVP Ahmed Elmohamady of Egypt, Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon and the Ghanaian trio of Asamoah Gyan, John Mensah and Sulley Muntari.
“We are very proud to have augmented our relationship with Invest in Africa through this wonderful agreement,” Sunderland chairman Ellis Short said. “It truly gives something back to both our own region and to a continent which has become a firm part of our club’s success story over recent seasons.”
Margaret Byrne, Sunderland’s chief executive, added, “Africa has a wonderful passion for the game, something which is mirrored here in our own North East region. Both places are renowned for examples of how football can engage people and organisations to the extent where it changes lives.”
Invest in Africa was launched by Tullow Oil, a company that discovered several oilfields in the continent in the last few years. The focus of the company is to shift the public view of Africa as a region that needs aid, into a region that is rich for perceptive investors.
“I want all of my fellow American citizens, particularly our business community, to hear this: Africa offers the highest rate of return on foreign direct investment of any developing region in the world,” Tullow’s head Aiden Heavey told AFP news agency.
In an interview with BBC’s Focus on Africa program, Heavey said, “Africa is one of the best investment destinations on the planet right now.”
