Vice President of Ghana Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia has told the National Football League (NFL) who are in charge of the American Professional Football to widen their reach and set up an NFL Africa Academy in Ghana.
This he says will help unearth talents from Ghana and Africa as a whole as the country is blessed with a wide variety of athletes.
Dr. Bawumia on Friday hosted an NFL delegation at the Jubilee House where he urged them to give Ghana a shot by setting up an NFL Africa Academy which will help unearth talents.
He also touted Ghana’s peaceful and business friendly atmosphere as reasons why they should invest in Sports in Ghana.
The Vice President earlier this year met the NFL delegation in New York where they held discussions on mutually beneficial engagements.
The NFL have selected Ghana as the host country for the NFL Africa camp which will come off in June this year with the aim of unearthing talents.
Dr. Bawumia expressed his appreciation to the NFL delegation for choosing Ghana as the venue to discover talents on the continent.
“I am happy that you have decided to make the NFL Africa Camp happen here in Ghana. It is an opportunity for young people in this country,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“We have a very strong, athletic and intelligent youth who are waiting for such opportunities and I am sure once this comes and awareness grows, are going to take advantage of what is on offer to open doors for our young people”
“Establishing the NFL Africa Academy here in the mold of a football academy like Right to Dream, will go a long way to help in the unearthing and development of talents, as well as providing alternative career pathways to the youth,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“The talent is here across all sports. We have a very strong, athletic and intelligent youth who are waiting for such opportunities.”
“I am sure once this comes (establishing the academy) and awareness grows, we are going to take advantage of what is on offer, that is development of NFL talents and opening of doors for our youth.”
The Vice President assured the NFL delegation of government’s commitment to sports development, as well as its willingness to support positive sports initiatives, which open doors to the youth of the country.
“Our government is committed to supporting the promotion and development of sports, and we will support initiatives which will open up our sports and give our youth opportunities.”
“You can count on my support for such sports initiatives. I am sports enthusiast, but I am also an economist and I see the potential of sports contributing to the growth of the economy and offering opportunities to the youth.”
The NFL delegation also included Ghanaian NFL star, Jeremy Owusu-Koramoah and two time Super Bowl winner, Nigerian Osi Umenyiora.
