FIFA president Gianni Infantino says the world football governing body has invested over USD 1 billion (R17 Billion) in African football development since 2016.
Infantino was speaking at the 47th Confederation of African Football (CAF) Ordinary General Assembly in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Monday.
“The FIFA Forward investments in the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the African zonal/regional associations and the continent’s 54 Member Associations (MAs) reached a total of USD 1.06 billion between the start of the programme in 2016 and the end of September 2025,” confirmed Infantino.
FIFA embarked upon a new era of global football development when the FIFA Forward Programme was launched in 2016 to support the world football governing body’s 211 MAs and the confederations by funding infrastructure projects and competitions as well as operational costs.
From 2016 until the end of the current four-year cycle in 2026, the figures are estimated to reach USD 1.28 billion, including USD 1.08 billion for the 54 African MAs alone.
The FIFA president also spoke of football’s responsibility to give hope and dreams to the children of Africa as he addressed representatives of the continent’s 54 FIFA Member Associations.
FIFA plans to open between 20 and 30 FIFA Academies by 2027 as part of the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS), which aims to help all countries identify talented players and give them the coaching and facilities they need to shine. Meanwhile, the Football for Schools programme is now active in more than 40 African nations.
“We would all love to become legends, like Samuel Eto’o, like (Emmanuel) Adebayor, or El Hadji Diouf, who are here, in the first row, Kalusha (Bwalya), all the others,” Mr Infantino added. “Not all of us have this talent and can make it, but all of us here in this room, we have the responsibility and the duty to work and to work hard, to give dreams, to give chances, and to give hope to all the children of Africa.”
He concluded: “I’m asking you all, as always, to be united, to continue to unite Africa, to continue to unite African football, because like this we will have a strong voice, all over the world, for a very, very bright future.”
