DURBAN – KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Sihle Zikalala, announced on Monday that the province will host the World Football Summit (WFS) 2020, the first-ever on the African continent, following a successful bid.
WFS is the international event of football industry, gathering the most influential professionals in order to discuss the most relevant topics and generate business opportunities. It brings together more than 80 countries, over 2,300 attendees, 90 speakers, 160 clubs, leading executives, and more than 100 media houses, with an estimated economic impact of about R800 million.
Zikalala said WFS requested the KZN Convention Bureau to bid for the World Football Summit 2020 which, in a decade, will be the biggest event after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Sihle Zikalala, MPL MEC for Economic Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs. Photo: Leon Lestrade/ African News Agency (ANA)
Durban was chosen among a crop of other global powerhouses which included Hong Kong, Buenos Aires in Argentina, as well as Canada, to see who would host the event after being invited to do so in September 2018.
Zikalala will on Tuesday brief the media and announce other major upcoming events and programme worth more than R200 billion to the province, and the economic impact these will have.