African fintech mogul and co-founder of Paystack, Shola Akinlade, has established a football club, Sporting Lagos Football Club, as part of a community project that he believes will nurture the next generation of Nigerian sporting talent. With famous names like Godwin Enakhena, CEO of Global Media, who will serve as the club’s chairman, and Uzo Okonkwo, involved, the club’s governing body will be led by Ekene Agu, a Paystack employee, Colin Udoh, a former Super Eagles media officer, and Fola Olatunji-David, an early stage investor and Former Google employee. Akinlade explained that the platform aligns with the movement to harness football’s transformative power to bring together people from all walks of life and create economic opportunities on a large scale. On Feb. 13, his new venture, Sporting Lagos, played its first official match before familiar faces from Nigeria’s tech scene but also curious soccer fans. Played at an intense pace for 96 minutes, the match ended in an entertaining one all draw. Sporting equalized from an own-goal, one minute after conceding from a Go Round FC counter attack that silenced the vuvuzela-buzzing stadium.
SOURCE: QUARTZ AFRICA | BUSINESS INSIDER