One of the quiet joys of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is seeing football as culture. It’s more than tactics or results—it’s identity. This year in Morocco, the Malian national team’s home jersey captured that spirit. Produced by Airness, the shirt is vibrant, confident, and unapologetically African. Naturally, I wanted to buy it.
Everywhere I looked—airports, fan zones, street markets—the only jersey available was Morocco’s. The absence of kits for Mali, Cape Verde, Angola, or even Nigeria highlights a bigger problem: a billion-dollar industry left untapped.
Morocco’s success isn’t luck. It’s policy. The federation treats football kits as national merchandise, coordinating production, distribution, and sales months in advance. Other African federations, by contrast, often operate without strategy: limited production, late releases, and narrow distribution. Fans experience the emotional peak of a tournament but cannot purchase a jersey, losing both revenue and connection.
Blaming Nike, Puma, or Adidas misses the point. The real issues lie in weak infrastructure, poor enforcement of intellectual property, and a lack of long-term retail planning. African federations often treat kit deals as one-off sponsorships rather than sustainable partnerships, forcing fans to import their own national identity from overseas.
CAF has made some strides with an official AFCON 2025 store, but eight retail points in Rabat are not enough. Solutions include multi-country retail hubs, centralized digital stores, and minimum merchandising standards for tournament entry.
Africa produces world-class footballers, designs, and passion—but if fans cannot buy the shirt of the team they love, the continent continues to miss out on its own future. The “jersey you can’t buy” is more than a shirt; it’s a symbol of untapped potential.
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