ABSTRACT
African football academies have been widely discussed in a growing literature on African football. In most of the literature, the focus has been on the production of young African football labor for European clubs. While this chapter acknowledges that phenomenon, its focus deviates into the production of talent for local African football, among other interests. The chapter begins by tracing the history of football academies in Africa in association with an awareness of African talent demonstrated in global competitions. It reviews the typology developed by Darby, Akindes and Kirwin (2007) as the basis for describing the structure and characteristics of African football academies. A key area of discourse is on football academies developed by elite football clubs in the continent and the fact that they have diverse typology. This discourse also reviews youth participation in competitive events and how they have an impact on talent development for African elite leagues. The final section of the chapter reviews how the states and football federations participate in developing youth talents.
