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The National Football League brought its latest African competition to Kenya this weekend as the American football league intensifies efforts to win converts and identify talent across the continent.
The three-day NFL Flag Africa Continental Championship, held at the Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi from July 9 to 11, featured men’s and women’s national teams from Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa in the non-contact version of American football known as flag football.
Egypt emerged as the winners of the men’s contest, while Nigeria claimed the women’s title.
Flag football, which has grown to more than 20 million players across over 100 countries, will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The event formed part of the NFL’s broader push into Africa, a market US sports have increasingly targeted. The NBA launched a high-profile Basketball Africa League in 2019, based in Rwanda.
“This event brings together the very best players alongside the next generation of talent from five countries, showcasing the pathways that exist for athletes to compete at the grassroots level all the way to representing their countries in international competitions,” said NFL Senior Vice President of Global Flag Football Brian Flinn in June.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Osi Umenyiora, who now heads NFL Africa, said the sport’s accessibility was key to its growth on the continent.
“Flag football is very accessible, everybody can play it,” Umenyiora said.
“As the NFL looks to expand and keep on growing especially across the continent of Africa… participation is a huge part of it,” he added.
Umenyiora, born in the UK to Nigerian parents, has built the NFL Africa programme on three pillars – fan events, talent identification and grassroots flag development.
The competition also featured an elite talent-identification session with NFL scouts seeking the next star to join the league.
The continent now leads all international regions in NFL talent production. The International Player Pathway Class of 2026 featured seven Nigerians and one Kenyan among 13 athletes from 10 nations.
More than 145 players of African descent currently hold NFL roster spots.
Nigeria has already earned a place at the flag football world championships in Dusseldorf, Germany in August, where it hopes to qualify for the Olympics.
“We have been playing NFL flag football for a long time – since 2016 – and the game has exploded to 40 teams (in Nigeria), which gives us the edge over other countries in Africa,” said Nigerian coach Ephraim Faloughi.
“I never thought I could be an Olympian – now we have the opportunity,” he added.
The NFL has expanded internationally in recent years, playing regular-season games in Europe and South America.
