Ms Diop is a seasoned international executive with more than 18 years of experience across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America, combining strategic leadership, operational execution and high-level expertise in marketing, brand development and audience growth. She is currently a consultant in brand marketing for sports organisations and athletes, with extensive experience in operations and event management.

She held senior positions at NBA Africa and the Basketball Africa League (BAL), where she was part of the team that launched the BAL — the first professional sports league operated by the NBA outside of North America. In her roles, she led multi-market initiatives, coordinated cross-functional teams across the continent, and contributed to the growth and visibility of the league through the design and execution of major brand campaigns and audience-development programmes.

Earlier in her career, Ms Diop held senior positions at IBM, where she managed regional initiatives across multiple African markets, aligning strategy with execution and supporting business growth. She also worked at Flash Entertainment, specialising in concerts, cultural and sport venues and events, where she was involved in the delivery of major international sport and entertainment events, including Formula 1, UFC, athletics, tennis, football competitions, and major concerts, giving her direct experience of the operational realities of high-profile events staged in African and international markets.

Ms Diop holds a Master’s degree in Sport & Lifestyle Management from Rome Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Her appointment to the ACG Advisory Board brings to the platform a rare depth of expertise in brand marketing, audience development and the commercial activation of continental sport properties, together with hands-on experience of launching and scaling major sport organisations in Africa — capabilities directly relevant to originating and structuring large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across the African continent, where the commercial and brand dimension of district ecosystems is decisive for their financial sustainability.

“Aïcha Diop brings to our Advisory Board a genuinely distinctive combination of continental sport marketing expertise and hands-on experience of building major sport organisations from the ground up in Africa. Her role in the launch of the Basketball Africa League — the first professional NBA-operated league outside North America — is precisely the type of institution-building experience ACG needs as we originate bankable sport and entertainment district ecosystems across the African continent. Her presence on our Advisory Board is a genuine strategic asset,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard (www.Pompigne-Mognard.com), Founder and Executive Chairman of ACG.

The ACG Advisory Board provides strategic guidance as ACG originates and structures large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across the continent, aligning governments, development finance institutions (DFIs), investors, sport bodies and infrastructure partners to support the development of financially sustainable, mixed-use district ecosystems.

Africa’s sport economy is projected to reach $20 billion by 2035, yet the continent continues to lack the integrated district ecosystems required to support large-scale development. ACG addresses this gap by originating bankable sport and entertainment district projects, moving beyond single-venue development models towards mixed-use, revenue-generating and financially sustainable district ecosystems.

Through its collaborative model, ACG convenes governments, PPP authorities and regulators, development finance institutions, private investors, developers, designers and engineers, legal and transaction advisors, operators, sport federations and leagues, event promoters, media and broadcast partners, academic institutions and host communities, creating structured pathways from concept to feasibility, bankability and delivery.

The Legends Football Match, scheduled for 8 November 2026 at Onikan Stadium, Lagos, will bring together football icons from Africa and beyond. The event celebrates the 30th anniversary of the legendary mid-1990s Super Eagles squad—commemorating their historic 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) triumph, 1994 FIFA World Cup run, and their defining 1996 Olympic Gold medal in Atlanta.

As part of CANEX WKND 2026—Afreximbank’s flagship platform for advancing Africa’s creative and cultural industries—the match will showcase the link between sports, entertainment, and the broader creative economy.

The event is expected to attract significant interest from football fans, the creative community and the wider public, with local and international media also attending.

Speaking during the press conference, Temwa Gondwe, Director of Creatives and Diaspora at Afreximbank said: “The 1996 Super Eagles did more than win Olympic gold; they re-wrote the global narrative, proving to the world that African talent is an unstoppable force. Today, the intersection of sports, entertainment, and culture is the heartbeat of Africa’s creative economy. The Legends Game is more than a celebration of our glorious past – it is a strategic and formidable platform to discuss the future commercialisation and empowerment of African athletes and creatives globally.”

Chichi Nwoko Founder and CEO of TopTier Sports Management, What Media Group, responsible for the planning and execution of the Legends Football Games said, “Thirty years ago, a generation of Nigerian footballers showed the world what African talent was capable of. The Legends Football Game is our way of saying thank you to them, and our chance to ask harder questions: what are we building for this generation and the next? We want to build the infrastructure that lets African athletes turn a playing career into a lasting one, on and off the field; this is a huge gap that must be addressed. That’s what this partnership with Afreximbank seeks to achieve.”

The Legends Football Match will also contribute to the broader CANEX WKND 2026 objective of positioning Lagos as a leading destination for Africa’s creative industries and demonstrating the power of major cultural and entertainment events to drive economic activity, tourism, investment, and international engagement.