PADEL IN AFRICA
PADEL IN AFRICA
Padel spreads across five continents but today in a very different way in each of them. The difficulties for the implementation of padel in Africa are not an impediment for different projects to go ahead. Behind them are proper names who dedicate their efforts daily in favor of our sport. We introduce you to some of them.
Jordi Rovira introduced padel in Senegal, overcoming difficulties but also enjoying the experience both in that country and in some others in Africa. Knowing other cultures, languages, religions… have been very rewarding experiences.
Saly was the first town where padel courts were built and later a club was created in Dakar. People who play paddle tennis are both European visitors who are there for vacations or work and some Senegalese players.
If the above experiences are unique, it is no less so that of Amir El Samahy, CEO of the Go Padel Egypt club chain, who discovered padel in 1994 on a visit to Spain to play a squash tournament. Years later he settled in Spain and after 15 years of stay, in 2014, he decided to take padel to Egypt. Today it has 7 clubs with 17 courts in total.
Do you remember the World Padel Tour event in front of the pyramids? Amir was the organizer of the event, hand in hand with World Padel Tour. It was spectacular but he assures that there was a lot of work, taking care of every last detail so that the result was at the level of the tournaments that take place in Spain or even better. The environment was incomparable and the result could be seen by all of you.
He assures that padel has grown a lot in Egypt, with more than 2,000 players throughout the country and already with its own federation. He is optimistic about the future and actually has some high-level players to play international tournaments. The growth of padel in Africa is unstoppable according to El Samahy. The two Africa Padel Cup disputed and the fact that there are already 8 countries with padel courts (Angola, Egypt, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia) suggests more and more countries in the medium-term future that have courts and contribute to the growth of this sport in Africa.
DO YOU THINK IT'S PROFITABLE FOR INVESTING IN SUCH AREAS ALL ACROSS AFRICA?
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ReplyDeleteI would question whether the sport will find application all across Africa. So no, it would not pay out to do that. Some markets, such as South Africa show a good future perspective. I don't think it would make sense to serve the small groups of tourists travelling in rural countries.
ReplyDeleteGiven Africa's major inequalities do you think the future of this sports in the African Continent is prosperous?
ReplyDeleteThank Gerard for commenting, well honestly it will never be like in Europe or America but as long as it existing in some parts of Africa it's a success.
DeleteIn my point of view padel still has to evolve a lot and I don't think this is a good way to do it basically because you are offering benefits to tourists and you are not expanding the art of padel.
ReplyDeleteI think that padle in Africa will never be as implemented as in other more developed countries. This is because padle needs an infrastructure that it's not needed in other sports, as for example football, in which the only thing needed is a ball.
ReplyDeletei agree on this point, setting up paddle courts is rather a big investment compared to a football pitch
DeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI sincerely believe that investing in padel in Africa is not a good business, since it is a little-known sport in Africa, as you say, those who play are tourists. In the future, when padel has a name, maybe yes, but currently I think not.
Do you have any numbers on how many native africans play padel? (aaron)
ReplyDeleteThere is still not that much statistics due to undeveloped situation but I know for a fact that a lot of foreign people are playing in adventures courts all across Africa.
DeleteIn order to keep the padle field with the condition that they need we know that they have to use a lot of water, do you think it is the best to impliment padel when in the same countries there are some people that has to walk a lot in order to get water?
ReplyDeleteHi Ricard, well the best possible option is to obviously put Padel courts where you have everything available (also water), if that is not the case then it's a bad decision to invest in such courts.
DeleteInvesting can be profitable but not in the earning money sense, investing in installations, facilities, equipment, trainers and tournaments can increase the level at padel in africa and as it's said in the report it also can help the growth of the sport in many other countries in the african continent.
ReplyDeleteI think investing Padel in Africa is a good idea in the long term, as they are a big market. Running competitions and promotions first would firstly bring the interest of the people. Later, starting to implement tournaments and courts can have a huge potential, as getting young kids into sports has many benefits. I believe Africa is a massive market, to which little sports are covered because of risk, however I think it could be an opportunity for the sport.
ReplyDeleteI think investing in padel is a great idea that will be very profitable in the future. Padel is one of the most growing sports in the world, if not the most. We can see that many countries all over the world are making clubs with padel courts or even padel clubs. We can see this reflected in the world Padel Tour, where they have been making tournaments all over the world, when before it was only played in Spain and South America. So yes, padel will definitely arrive to Egipt, maybe it will take a little longer but it will eventually be an important sport for sure. I also think it's a good idea to invest now because it's still not very famous, so you can have big profits in the future.
ReplyDeleteI do think that this idea will never reach a good place, just for the simple reason that there are many poor and underdeveloped countries, and this sport is probably unknown there and would need a lot of investment in things that would not give profitability.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that some day some big African Player will achieve to get into the top world positions? I personally believe that giving the opportunity for everyone to know the sport will really help evolve the sport and the county where is practiced.
ReplyDeleteHi Joan, I think 100%. Taking in consideration that with developing Padel as a sport new talent players will be made and recognized which will be resulted in top world position one day.
DeleteCurrently, the number of people who play padel is increasing in all countries, so I think that it is a good investment to make padel courts in big cities in Africa, where the salary per person is higher, since padel it is a sport usually practiced by middle-upper class people.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think that if we focus on determined areas of Africa were Padel can be played in normal conditions it can be a very good idea to invest in order to expand the sport.
ReplyDeleteThere are other areas which I find not viable to invest on padel. Do you think Padel has a future in Africa?
Hi Raul, thank you for commenting.
DeleteWell, definitely if you look at it from the aspect of emerging continent. It will not have some achievements like Europe for instance, but taking in consideration economic state of all the countries all across Africa, Padel is making amazing process currently.
I think they should analyse the situation in more detail and collect data on the performance of other investments on the continent before investing in the whole of Africa.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a pasi with few opportunities for padel. I think it is a sport that would only succeed in the richest cities because for example the price of a court is approximately €20,000 and I think it would not be sustainable.
ReplyDeletewow really amazing article that really sum up what is achieving this sport in the whole world with people from everywhere each one with different cultures that can have some time together having fun
ReplyDeleteI think that depending on which parts of Africa it can be a total success and taking into account the physical abilities of Africans, very good players can come out of the continent, do you agree with me?
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