African Collaborations Group (ACG), a strategic project origination and collaboration platform focused on the industrialisation of sport in Africa, has appointed former FIFA Secretary General, Fatma Samoura, to its Advisory Board.

Samoura, who served as FIFA Secretary General from 2016 to 2023, brings more than three decades of international leadership experience spanning sports administration, development, humanitarian affairs and global governance.

She became the first woman and the first non-European to serve as FIFA Secretary General. During her tenure, she oversaw the organisation’s global administration and major operational and institutional functions, including the delivery of two FIFA World Cups and two FIFA Women’s World Cups. She also played a key role in strengthening FIFA’s governance, member-association services and international development programmes.

Before joining FIFA, Samoura spent more than 21 years with the United Nations, where she held senior positions in humanitarian and development operations with organisations including the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Her UN career took her across Africa, Central and South America, and Asia, providing extensive experience in working with governments, international institutions and development partners.

Samoura has also been a member of the Senate of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) since February 2022.

ACG said her appointment would strengthen its Advisory Board with expertise in global sports governance, institutional leadership, international development, federation relations and the delivery of major sporting events.

Commenting on the appointment, ACG Founder and Executive Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, described Samoura’s experience as a strategic asset to the organisation’s ambitions across Africa.

“Fatma Samoura is one of the most distinguished sport administrators of her generation. Her unique experience at the intersection of global governing bodies, national federations, governments and international institutions is precisely the calibre of expertise ACG needs as we originate a new generation of bankable sport and entertainment district ecosystems across the African continent. Her presence on our Advisory Board is a genuine strategic asset,” he said.

The ACG Advisory Board provides strategic guidance as the organisation originates and structures large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across Africa. Its work is aimed at aligning governments, development finance institutions (DFIs), investors, sports bodies and infrastructure partners in the development of financially sustainable, mixed-use district ecosystems.

According to ACG, Africa’s sports economy is projected to reach $20 billion by 2035, despite the continent’s continued shortage of integrated district ecosystems capable of supporting large-scale sports development.

The organisation said its approach goes beyond conventional single-venue projects by developing mixed-use, revenue-generating and financially sustainable sport and entertainment districts.

Through its collaborative model, ACG brings together governments, public-private partnership (PPP) authorities and regulators, development finance institutions, private investors, developers, designers and engineers, legal and transaction advisers, operators, sports federations and leagues, event promoters, media and broadcast partners, academic institutions and host communities.

The platform aims to create structured pathways for projects to move from concept development through feasibility assessment and bankability to delivery.