Jan Alessie Joins ACG Advisory Board to Support Sport and Entertainment Districts Across Africa
African Collaborations Group (ACG), a strategic project origination and collaboration platform focused on the industrialisation of sport in Africa, has appointed Jan Alessie, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the World Football Summit (WFS), to its Advisory Board.
The appointment is aimed at strengthening ACG’s capabilities as it develops bankable sport and entertainment district ecosystems across Africa.
World Football Summit Leadership
Alessie co-founded the World Football Summit in Madrid in 2016 alongside Marian Otamendi. Now in its tenth year, WFS has developed into a global platform for the football industry, bringing together club executives, federations, leagues, sponsors, media organisations, technology providers, investors and public authorities.
Under Alessie’s leadership, WFS has hosted more than 30 events across 11 countries and built a network of more than 150,000 industry members. The platform has expanded across Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Its 2026 programme includes WFS Mexico City, held in June with more than 1,700 professionals from 43 countries, the 10th Anniversary Edition of WFS Madrid in September and WFS Riyadh.
At WFS, Alessie works with major brands and sports organisations, manages relationships with regional partners and public administrations, and leads the platform’s international expansion. His responsibilities include assessing markets, evaluating opportunities and determining where and how the platform should expand.
Before co-founding WFS, Alessie spent 18 years as a consultant and strategic adviser, developing commercial, analytical and strategic expertise that has informed his approach to building WFS as an international sports industry platform.
Expertise for Africa’s Sport Infrastructure
ACG said Alessie’s appointment brings experience in international sports industry convening, strategic expansion and stakeholder management involving commercial organisations, sports bodies and public institutions.
These capabilities are expected to support ACG’s work in originating and structuring large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across Africa.
“Jan Alessie has built one of the most respected global platforms in world sport. Over a decade, he has demonstrated exactly what it takes to originate, structure and scale a convening platform that connects commercial actors, sport institutions and public authorities across markets and continents. That is precisely the analytical, commercial and diplomatic capability ACG requires as we originate sport and entertainment district projects across Africa. His presence on our Advisory Board significantly strengthens the depth of expertise we are assembling around ACG,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and Executive Chairman of ACG.
Developing Integrated Sport and Entertainment Districts
The ACG Advisory Board provides strategic guidance as the organisation works to originate and structure large-scale sport and entertainment districts across Africa.
The model brings together governments, development finance institutions, investors, sports organisations and infrastructure partners to support financially sustainable, mixed-use district ecosystems.
Africa’s sport economy is projected to reach $20 billion by 2035. However, ACG says the continent continues to require integrated district ecosystems capable of supporting large-scale development.
Rather than focusing solely on individual venues, ACG aims to develop mixed-use districts designed to generate multiple revenue streams and support long-term financial sustainability.
Its collaborative model brings together governments, PPP authorities and regulators, development finance institutions, private investors, developers, designers, engineers, legal and transaction advisers, operators, sports federations and leagues, event promoters, media and broadcast partners, academic institutions and host communities.
Through these collaborations, ACG aims to create structured pathways from initial concepts through feasibility assessment, bankability and project delivery.
