On January 08, 2019, the second edition of the Aiteo-CAF Awards, was held in Dakar, Senegal. Liverpool forward, Mohammed Salah and South African playmaker, Thembi Kgatlana emerged African male and female players respectively at the event, sponsored by Aiteo, Nigeria’s largest indigenous oil and gas company.

Few things arouse interest and passion more than the round leather game in Africa. Besides the excitement it generates, football presents an alternative reality for Africans.
A critical look at football sponsorship in Africa shows that Aiteo, MTN, and Globacom are some of the few African companies that have invested heavily in football on the continental.

Aiteo is taking care of the payment of salaries of the National team coach and other football officials under a deal worth about $7million with the local football authority, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) in May 2017. Aiteo also paid special bonuses to players of the National team, the Super Eagles, during their world cup qualifiers. This has led to a remarkable improvement in the Nigerian national team, which qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018 and the African Cup of Nations 2019 after a string of failures.

Furthermore, Aiteo has invested into local football in Nigeria by taking over the sponsorship of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the country, which was rebranded Aiteo Cup in another monumental deal with the NFF.
Another Telecoms company with a large presence in Nigeria that is investing in African football is MTN. The South African Telecom giant was the title sponsor for the AFCON from 2004 to 2008. According to African Business Review, MTN’s $12.5mil was the biggest sponsorship deal in African sporting history. MTN also sponsored the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, making history as the first African sponsor of a FIFA World Cup.
Some African companies have also invested heavily in the local leagues of their home countries. In South Africa, state-owned telecoms company, Telkom sponsors one of the most important tournaments in the country. The Telkom Knockout is a yearly football competition organized by the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The South-African bank, ABSA has also been heavily involved in the country’s premier league as title sponsors.

https://www.newtelegraphng.com/2019/01/caf-awards-aiteo-others-hailed-for-investing-in-african-football/