LaLiga Africa managing director Trésor Penku says he is happy with talents coming through the league’s programs on the continent and succeeding elsewhere, though he hopes for some to progress to the elite ranks in Spain.
LaLiga celebrated its 10-year anniversary in Africa in November 2025. After becoming the first European football league to establish a permanent office in Africa, it prioritised grassroots development work which it says gave a platform to 3000 young players and coaches across Africa.
Girls in South Africa, Kenya and Cameroon had the opportunity to play in community-based leagues such as La Ligue D’Égalité and the Mzansi Equality League, backed by the LaLiga Foundation.
While LaLiga laid foundations in Africa over the past decades, it has yet to produce a bona fide star directly from its community-based projects.
South Africa’s Mduduzi Shabalala and Zambia‘s Joseph Sabobo Banda were selected for trials at Villarreal and Barcelona respectively after the 2020 COSAFA Under-17 Championship, as a result of LaLiga’s partnership with Southern African football, but Shabalala is still at Kaizer Chiefs and Banda now at Israel’s Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Zambia’s Tisilile Lungu and South Africa’s Jessica Wade were given similar opportunities in Spain after the equivalent women’s Under-17 tournament.
However, perhaps LaLiga’s most notable success on the women’s side has been that of Edo Queens defender Miracle Usani, who spent time at LaLiga Academy in Madrid on a scholarship and later was part of Nigeria‘s successful Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) campaign in Morocco last year.
According to Penku, while community development remains a priority for the league, it is aiming to go further in terms of development of elite talent over the next decade.
“The definition of success in these projects is not necessarily getting to LaLiga. It’s giving them opportunities. Miracle isn’t playing in LaLiga. She might, but she’s an African champion today. She had spent one year with us,” Penku told ESPN.
“Even in our girls’ league – La Ligue D’Égalité – we have girls from that league joining the national teams. Obviously, as we speak, we haven’t seen any in LaLiga, but we are satisfied that we give them these opportunities and they can end up in different clubs and the national teams.”
Penku emphasised the importance of developing skills that could benefit youngsters in both the football and industry life beyond merely excelling on the pitch.
He said: “Our programs always have education and leadership programs that want to train these young boys and girls with life skills.
“At the end of the day, how many people make it to play professionally? Maybe 1%, but we want to make sure that the impact on real lives is deeper than making the international stage.
“We’ll be happy to see these young boys and girls end up in our programs and obviously LaLiga… It will be amazing, but we’re happy with giving them these opportunities across the continent.”
The league has existing superstars of African descent, including Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal (Morocco) and Real Madrid‘s Kylian Mbappé (Cameroon). While they play for European national teams (Yamal for Spain and Mbappé for France), LaLiga also boasts several current African international stars – notably Real Madrid’s Brahim Díaz, who starred for Morocco at the recent Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
As per Penku programs such as the Next Gen Draft — which sees talented children, including those from Africa, playing in front of LaLiga scouts — can help the league find its own homegrown stars.
However, if young footballers aim for the stars and do not quite make it to LaLiga on the field of play, the league’s goal is to ensure that the skills gained along the way on and off the pitch are not in vain.
