Football is one of the most popular sports in Kenya with great players emerging from local clubs ending up in some of the world’s top leagues.
Running a professional football club require a lot of resources and investments. TeamKenya takes a look at the businessmen managing these top local football clubs.
1. Ricardo Badoer (Wazito FC, CD Ursaria, Spain)
The owner of Wazito FC, Ricardo Badoer is a Swedish Billionaire based in Dubai.
The billionaire is the founder of Badoer Investment Ltd with him also holding major shares at Sumac Microfinance Bank in Kenya.
Badoer bought Wazito FC while it was in the National Super League(NSL) Kenya's second tier League. The team is now owned by Badoer Investments Ltd, the global investment conglomerate run by the Swedish Billionaire.
Since he acquired the club, Ricardo has heavily invested in it by acquiring some of the best players and experienced coaches who helped the club rise from NSL to KPL within two years.
Ricardo, who is passionate about football matters, also owns a 5th division team in Spain called C.D. Ursaria.
The Swedish businessman has interest in various sectors ranging from banking, real estate and media. He is a member of the board of directors for Tanzania-based Hakika Microfinance Bank.
2. Nick Mwendwa (Kariobangi Sharks)
The former FKF President, Nick Mwendwa owns Kenya Premier League side Kariobangi Sharks.
Mwendwa founded the team in the early 2000s and registered it in February 2001. The team played in the lower league until the 2015-2016 season when they secured a ticket to join the Kenyan Premier League.
The former FKF president also owns other companies including, Riverbank Solutions Ltd, a company that develops innovative mobile payment solutions locally and internationally. He is also the founder and CEO of Sweeton Limited, a content creation platform.
3. Elly Kalekwa (Sofapaka FC)
Pouraliy known as ‘Prezda’- short for President Elly Kalekwa owns the 2009 Kenya Premier league champions Sofapaka.
Elly is a renowned Congolese businessman with interests in the hotel industry, real estate and transport sectors in Kenya, Uganda and Cyprus.
It was reported that by the end of 2016 he had already spent over Ksh110 million on the team.
Elly is recognised as the pioneer of restructuring the Kenyan football system by introducing professional contracts, selling players, and building an official office.
He also bought Sofapaka, a club's bus making it the first team in Kenya to achieve such a milestone.
4. Jonathan Jackson (Nairobi City Stars)
The owner of Nairobi City Stars, Jonathan Jackson is a Kenyan billionaire. Jackson was born and raised in Eldoret by English parents.
He was able to acquire Nairobi City Stars through his foundation called Jonathan Jackson Foundation.
Aside from owning a football club Jackson is also the founder of Lordship Group, a company that has invested heavily in Real Estate in several African countries and Europe.
5. Bhimji Depar Shah and Family (Bidco United FC)
Bhimji Depar Shah is the founder and chairman of Thika based club Bidco United.
Bhimji is a Kenyan businessman and currently is the chair of Bidco Group of Companies which has a manufacturing conglomerate with businesses in almost 1 African countries.
As of November 2015, Bhimji had a net worth of ksh77 billion.