Ghanaian female Athlete Nadia Eke says the perception cooperate bodies have about African Athletes have prevented them from investing in the Sport.
In Africa, Athletics remains one of the less financed sport despite having huge interest from Sports lovers.
The Sport which undoubtedly plays second fiddle to football in Africa has received little recognition from cooperate entities.
“On the sponsorship side, there are so many opportunities for brands. They are seeing athletes in a very limited way.
“When a brand looks at me and say she is a triple jumper or she is a triple jumper from Ghana and that’s it. But they are not looking at me as the whole individual, what I can bring to the table”, she told Athletics Africa.
“I graduated from an Ivy League University, I have sense. There is so much I can bring to your company but a lot of times, unfortunately, companies don’t see that in athletes. On the reverse side, athletes don’t see that in themselves too, to make them position themselves in a way to gain sponsorship from companies.
“In the African continent, I think companies are missing a lot to use athletes and gain exposure for their brands.”
Eke is currently Ghana’s record holder in the long jump and also one of the few athletes to have secured a place at the 2020 Summer Olympics which has been postponed.