Ken Ashiegbey, Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited has said that the issues of franchise, sponsorship, insurance, infrastructure and other branches of sports business have not been well exploited, hence the need to prepare the right resource persons to manage the various sectors effectively.

He said Ghana and Africa cannot take full advantage of the numerous opportunities in sport business without the requisite knowledge, since “Knowledge is the key tool for transformation in sports and an expo will provide the right platform for stake holders to acquire knowledge to revolutionarize sports in the country.

Launching the fourth edition of Accra Sports Expo in Accra on Thursday by RICS Consult Limited - a marketing, Public relations and Event management Company, Ken Ashiegbey, Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), said the contents of the three day event will seek to revolutionalise sports in Ghana and the continent as a whole.

The event, fixed between, May 15-17, is expected to take participants through workshops, clinics and series of conferences alongside sports exhibitions, will be under the theme “Promoting Africa’s Talent Globally: Role of Sports Business”. It is targeted at stakeholders such as Sports Associations, Schools, the sports industry investors/managers, sports medicine practitioners and consultants among others.

Ashiegbey said, “Knowledge is the key tool for transformation in sports and the expo will provide the right platform for stake holders to acquire knowledge to revolutionarize sports in the country.

He said the sports industry in the United States of America (USA) will be 4,442 billion dollars by 2015 but regretted that Africa will be entitled to only two percent of the size.

Ashiegbey, however, noted that the Africa continent is capable of making a bigger claim of the size if the appropriate resource personnel are well trained and prepared to take advantage of the situation.

He added that there is the need for the continent to change its approach to sports management and business and was convinced that the event will empower participants in various sectors of sports industry to take up the challenge.

Magnus Rex Danquah, Managing Consultant of RICS Consult Limited - the brain behind the Accra Sport Expo, said the event which started as a Football Expo has now been broadened to include other sporting disciplines.

He said the move is an attempt to promote and develop sports generally especially lesser known sports, infuse professionalism and re-define their commercial values.

According to Rex Danquah, there is the need for all sectors of the industry to consider sports as a serious business to ensure a sustained industry.

He said the event will create an opportunity for sports associations to be well positioned and take right decisions in terms of recruiting the appropriate personnel as marketing consultants.

The event will discuss topics such as; “Sports as an Emerging industry in Africa”, Developing, “Planning and Managing Sustainable continental sports legacies”, Financing and Insurance Services for Sports Industry; the new perspective” among others.