Acting Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Yaw Ampofo-Ankrah, has said that grassroots sports development must remain at the centre of the Ghana Sports Fund if the country hopes to build a sustainable sports economy and develop future talents.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, May 22, Mr Ampofo-Ankrah said youth and community sports development were essential to the long-term vision of the fund.
Responding to a question about how central grassroots sports were to the initiative, he described it as “absolutely critical”.
“It’s central, it’s absolutely critical,” he said.
According to him, proper structures and due processes must first be established to ensure the Sports Fund becomes sustainable and effective in the long-term.
“The structures obviously, due processes have to be followed, and that shouldn’t be a hindrance. It’s better to make sure the pillars are very firm.”
“So when we do start mobilising and moving forward, we don’t have to go back and take things back, rather keep things moving forward, and the grassroots is very important,” he explained.
Mr Ampofo-Ankrah said Ghana must intentionally invest in young talents from an early age if the country wants to compete globally and benefit economically from sports development.
He pointed to Morocco as an example of how deliberate investment in sports and youth development can transform a country.
“I keep talking about Morocco because when the Moroccans decided to say sports is a pillar for development in the country, they used education and sports,” he stated.
According to him, Morocco’s long-term investment in sports over the past three decades has made the country a major sporting hub both in Africa and internationally.
“Morocco is now a hub not just for African sports but globally,” he said.
He added that Morocco’s progress has now positioned the country to co-host the next FIFA World Cup alongside Portugal and Spain.
“That takes remarkable thinking, vision, and years of planning,” he said.
Mr Ampofo-Ankrah said that Ghana also has abundant sporting talent but lacks the long-term structures needed to nurture and sustain it.
“These six-year-olds, seven-year-olds, whoever these talents that we have in abundance, the Michael Essiens and the Sulley Muntaris before them, they’re there,” he said.
However, he questioned how Ghana intends to protect and develop such talents in a sustainable way.
“How do we protect them, make it sustainable?” he asked.
He explained that sports development should not only focus on competition but also contribute directly to the economy through education, transfers, contracts, and remittances from players abroad.
“There’s a long-term plan to make sure through their education in sports these athletes are also going to bring in something for the economy,” he stated.
Mr Ampofo-Ankrah described the concept as “grassroots to GDP”, saying that sports can become a major economic driver if properly managed.
“G2G, grassroots to GDP,” he said.
He further pointed to Francophone West African countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Mali, where young football talents are deliberately developed through structured education and sports systems before moving abroad to play professionally.
“It’s not just for fun. They know economically it’s going to benefit the nation,” he explained.
According to him, the Sports Fund must support this long-term approach so Ghana can create a continuous cycle of sports development and economic returns.
“Structured percentages from contracts, from transfers would come back, and the cycle would continue,” he said.
He said that any successful sports development agenda must be intentional, sustainable, and supported by strong planning.
“It has to be sustainable, and it has to be very deliberate,” he added.
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