"Teaming up with Hollywood would expand the value" - How to export African wrestling to the world

"The NBA's on the continent. NFL was just here in Cairo, and you also have Formula One thinking about coming."

Ibrahim Sagna is a Senegalese businessman and chairman of Silverbacks Holdings, the Mauritius-based private investments firm. It focuses on start-ups in tech, sports entertainment and the creative economy. These include businesses we featured on Limitless Africa, businesses like the FinTech payment system Flutterwave and the online marketplace ANKA. Silverbacks has also invested in the African Warriors Fighting Championship, a martial arts entertainment brand.

Plus: How Ibrahim secured the Hollywood film producer Sandy Kleiman as an AWFC investor and advisor. Kleiman has worked with the Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s a perfect example of how Africans and Americans can work together for shared prosperity.

🌟 IN THIS EPISODE:

2:36 Why African wrestling is the next big thing

4:20 Why Dambe is popular in Brazil

6:09 The size of the African sports market

8:40 The UFC trouble with Africa

12:30 The African companies serving other continents

15:19 Getting Hollywood producers on board

19:29 The one principle guiding Ibrahim's career

27:06 What Rwanda and Singapore have in common

29:47 What people get wrong about Africa

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

"When quality manifests itself, capital follows."

"Capital is very very selfish: it just looks at quality and sustainability."

"No continent that is perfect. Continents make themselves look perfect."

"If you look at the data, even the last 50 years, the most profitable companies in Africa are all exporters."

"You have this continent that tends to be presented as a dark continent  that's just doubling at all metrics."

"We've always contributed, but it just was never recognized."

🌍 ABOUT LIMITLESS AFRICA

The podcast that asks how Africans and Americans can work together for shared prosperity

Every Monday: 15-minute episodes that dive into an issue that matters to Africans

Every Thursday: extended interview with someone unlocking Africa's limitless potential

➕ WANT MORE?

Why Hollywood moguls are investing in African wrestling https://trueafrica.co/article/podcast/how-hollywood-moguls-are-investing-in-african-wrestling/

How Africa is basketball’s next big business move https://trueafrica.co/article/podcast/why-nba-africa-means-business/

Michael Finley - "If the infrastructure for basketball was anywhere near what it's like in America, Africans would dominate the NBA." https://trueafrica.co/article/podcast/if-the-infrastructure-for-basketball-was-anywhere-near-what-its-like-in-america-africans-would-dominate-the-nba/

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Website: https://trueafrica.co/

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Limitless Africa is sponsored by the US Department of State and the Seenfire Foundation.

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