Shola Akinlade, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Paystack, is a very rich young man. While Guardian, ThisDay, BusinessDay and Forbes may not give them credits, young men (mostly men now) like him are some of the richest people in Nigeria. In ten years, more than 80% of the richest people in Nigeria will come from their world: technology, startup and broad entrepreneurial capitalism.
Like I joke with some of the founders in Tekedia Capital – do you need private security? Why? Making sure they are fine is one way to make sure many people who believe in them are made whole.
Shola founded Sporting Lagos FC last year. Today, we’re reading that he has bought a majority stake in a second-division Danish club, Aarhus Fremad. Indeed, from fintech to a football empire, this is just the beginning. He is diversifying his investments; rich people do that via owning sports teams, a mid-return investment class.
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You think you have money – do you have a sports club? That is how the conversation happens. Nigerian techies are getting into that. If Aarhus Fremad makes Sporting Lagos FC better, in ten years, this sports investment may even outperform his fintech holdings. How? He is possibly going to use data to run the ball clubs and find ways to make sports fun, opening subscription opportunities to fans around the world. Destination: digitization of football experience in Nigeria and Africa. That could be Paystack 2.0.
Shola Akinlade, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Paystack, has bought a 55 percent stake in a second-division Danish club, Aarhus Fremad, adding to the number of Nigerian investors throwing huge sums on football business.
Akinlade, who founded Sporting Lagos FC last year, a Lagos-based football club, sees the investment as an opportunity to boost his aim of developing football talents and youth football, particularly in Nigeria.
The 76-year-old Danish club will now serve as a sister club to Sporting Lagos, creating opportunities for talents harvested locally to be exported to Europe.
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Comment 1: The short term play is creating a Talent Pipeline with Sporting Lagos as Africa loading point & The Danish Club as Europe landing. One generational talent like Osimhen can yeild millions. FIFA has a rule that ensures clubs that develop players get solidarity fees from future big transfers
Comment 2: There’s more going on here Prof beyond the fun part of owning a sports club.
You have always talked about building moats. This is another moat Shola is building. If Shola finds 2 young talented players, first he sends them to his Lagos club. They are then groomed and sold to the 2nd division Danish club for say 1M Euro. The player spends 2 years there and maybe goes to a Belgian or French club for say 5-10M Euro with Shola’s Danish club holding on to 20% of transfer fees if player is sold on to a major club. If the player does well there and goes to an Italian or English club for 30-50M Euro, the Danish club gets another 6-10M. All around Shola makes anything from 1-10M euro on each player that goes from his Lagos club to become a big star. That’s the business he’s into. And then of course access to FIFA as a club owner and all the networking that goes with that.
Comment 3: Love this! But the utmost joy for me is not only that he has disguised himself as an intelligent and brilliant man and building his empire, it is the fact that maybe because of investments like his, grassroot sports could potentially develop great talent and become viable.
Paystack’s Shola Akinlade Buys Majority Stake in A European Club, after founding Sporting Lagos FC
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