Former FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura has joined the Advisory Board of African Collaborations Group (ACG), a strategic project origination and collaboration platform focused on developing sport and entertainment districts across Africa.

ACG said Ms Samoura’s appointment would strengthen its Advisory Board as it works to originate and structure bankable sport and entertainment district projects across the continent.

Ms Samoura brings more than three decades of international leadership experience spanning sport, development, humanitarian affairs and global governance.

She served as FIFA Secretary General from 2016 to 2023, becoming the first woman and first non-European to hold the position in the organisation’s history.

During her tenure, she oversaw FIFA’s global administration and played a key role in the delivery of two FIFA World Cups and two FIFA Women’s World Cups.

She was also involved in strengthening FIFA’s governance, member association services and international development programmes.

Extensive international experience

Before joining FIFA, Ms Samoura spent more than 21 years with the United Nations, where she held senior positions in humanitarian and development operations.

Her UN career included work with the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

She worked across Africa, Central and South America and Asia, gaining extensive experience engaging with governments, international institutions and development partners.

Ms Samoura has also served as a Senate Member of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) since February 2022.

ACG Founder and Executive Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard said her experience would be valuable to the organisation’s plans for Africa’s sport and entertainment economy.

“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,” he said.

“Her presence on our Advisory Board is a genuine strategic asset.”

Focus on sport and entertainment districts

The ACG Advisory Board provides strategic guidance as the organisation develops large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across Africa.

The group says its model is designed to bring together governments, development finance institutions, investors, sport governing bodies, infrastructure partners and other stakeholders to develop financially sustainable, mixed-use districts.

ACG argues that Africa’s growing sport economy requires integrated ecosystems that go beyond the development of individual sporting venues.

Its approach therefore focuses on projects that combine sports facilities with entertainment, commercial and other revenue-generating components, with the aim of moving projects from concept through feasibility and bankability to delivery.

The organisation said Ms Samoura’s expertise in global sport governance, international development, federation relations and major sporting events would complement this work as it expands its project pipeline across Africa.