Top Ghanaian sports journalist Gary Al-Smith recently hosted the 2024 edition of the Africa Sports Unified (ASU) Connex Summit event in London, bringing together influential sports business leaders to discuss strategies for enhancing Africa’s role in the global sports industry.
Al-Smith, renowned for his focus on African sports stories, shared his excitement about the event on Twitter, underscoring Africa’s importance in the sports world.
“Thrilled to have hosted this year’s Africa Sports Unified #ASUConnex in London, where sports business leaders gathered to discuss the African agenda,” he tweeted.
“The continent accounts for only 1% of the world’s sport funding, and strategies were honed to carve out more of the ~$403 billion industry.”
A key session, led by Philip Bernie, Head of BBC Sport, highlighted the role of sport in uniting African nations. “We have to look at things we can do to unify nations through sport. Finding ways of bringing people together,” Bernie said.
The event also featured discussions on topics like “Accelerating Growth” and “Sport for Development”. Panellists such as Keir Gordon, Absera Gizaw, and Gabriel Ajala shared insights on the critical need for strategic investments in African sports.
They emphasised the urgency of building infrastructure to host major events like the Olympics and Paralympics, positioning Africa to play a central role in the global sports industry.
This latest accolade adds to what has been an incredible year on the international scene for Al-Smith.
After being crowned 2023 Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Journalist of the Year in January, he was chosen by Fifa to represent Ghana in the voting of the world’s best player — and he marked that feat by being at the awards ceremony in London.
Following that, the journalist has also made high-profile appearances on CNN, Sky Sports and the BBC, providing deep insight on topical African news stories.
Gary is also understood to be behind the recent spate of resignations by top sports journalists in the country, as he is reported to be leading a project to launch Ghana’s first 24-hour sports radio station by the end of the year.