Chronicle Editor
Lovemore Dube
THE future of sport lies in practitioners unlocking its brand value from its diverse ecosystem.
This is the sentiment passed by sports consultant Peter Mawere whose work has taken him all over Africa and some parts of Asia.
Sport has lagged behind because people take it as a pastime and engage in it for recreation after spending better time elsewhere. This has denied athletes and companies from drawing the best for themselves towards talent development and business growth for sports institutions
Mawere believes in every country, sport has the ability to be a multi-billion-dollar industry that is if it unlocks opportunities that are available.
He believes there has to be investment in research on the business end of sport and also on sports science – the key driver on modern-day sport.
A senior sports business strategist at Barakitso Sports Management, a company with offices and operations in Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Rwanda and United States of Africa, Mawere said traveling and practice had left him a lot richer in content and application.
He has worked for Zimbabwe Volleyball Association, Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, Oman Olympic Movement, Senegal and Namibia.
“I have spent more than 15 years conducting bench marking study business missions, trying to understand situations with various sports organisations, and corporates that fund sport,” said Mawere.
He said he had also conducted research that had seen him equipped to work with different government agencies and sports organisations and agencies with a view of trying to shape the sports ecosystem with emphasis on the importance of strategy.
Mawere said this aims to ensure that there is growth across the entire sporting industry.
The former Zimbabwe Volleyball Association’s first head of secretariat, Mawere said he had developed an interest in a number of pillars of sports business and marketing and proved that if applied soccer can prosper.
“I have specific interests in Sports Entrepreneurship, Business Development, Corporate Sponsorship, Corporate Sponsorship and Fundraising, Project and Events Management, Sports Leadership Development and Governance, Sports Strategic Policy Framework, Children and Youth Development, Volunteer Programme Management, Branding and Activations, Capacity Building and Training Programmes, training and syllabus content development.
Mawere who has been involved in developing schools sports, tertiary, uniformed services and women in sports strategic plans recommends long term national, regional and districts structures so that they grow up in structured football development programmes.
Mawere believes sporting programme that feed into building confidence in children with a view that they grow up believing that sport is a key element in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
He also sees growth in sports sponsorship and advertising being key to the growth of sport in countries.
Mawere sits in boards of a number of sports development organisations and universities.
Barakitso Sports Management will at the end of October play host to an awards night where several athletes and sports practitioners will be honoured by his organisation.
Londile Moyo
Bongani Ndlovu