Top African Sports Awards You Should Know About

African Sports Awards recognises the best talents around the continent. These awards showcase quality, tenacity, and the growing influence of African athletes on the global stage, as they present trophies.

Sport Blot explores the most prominent African sporting honours you should be aware of, their legendary winners, and the incredible achievements.

CAF Awards: Africa’s Premier Football Honours

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards stand as the highest recognition for football on the continent. These awards, which are given out annually, honour the outstanding achievements of African players, coaches and teams.

What are the categories involved?

Men’s Player of the Year

Ademola Lookman is the most recent recipient of this category from 2024, as he progressed significantly from a promising youngster to African football royalty.

Do you remember his most noteworthy moments that made headlines? The Atlanta striker scored a hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League finals against his countryman’s side, Victor Boniface’s Bayern Leverkusen, to clinch their first-ever European trophy.

For the Super Eagles side, the 27-year-old striker was a driving force behind Nigeria’s attack at the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), which took place in early 2024.

Ademola Lookman scored three goals in the tournament, leading the Super Eagles to the finals, but unfortunately, falling to second place after losing to the Ivory Coast.

However, Lookman emerged as the Men’s Player of the Year, but football icons, Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Toure, are the joint most recipients for the award, winning it four times. 

Women’s Player of the Year

Barbra Banda won the 2024 women’s player of the year award for her remarkable impact on both club and international levels. Banda scored the game-winning goal in a fierce matchup against the North Carolina Courage, helping her side, Orlando Pride, to their first NSWL Championship.

For the Zambia women’s team, she put on an impressive performance throughout the Olympic qualifying tournament, solidifying her place as the winner of the award.

Barbra Banda also won the award in 2023, but she isn’t the player who has won it the most. Nigerian international, Asisat Oshoala, has won the CAF women’s player of the year award a record of six times.

Coach of the Year

Former Elephants midfielder Emerse Faé, who is now a manager, led Ivory Coast to a historic AFCON victory and took home the trophy for the first time since 2015.

The head coach of the women's squad at TP Mazembe, Lamia Boumehdi, created history by guiding the Congolese powerhouses to their first-ever CAF Women's Champions League championship.

National Team of the Year

In AFCON 2023–2024, Ivory Coast’s men’s squad overcame early obstacles to write one of the tournament’s most inspirational comeback tales. They were able to edge out Mali in extra time, defeat the reigning champions, Senegal, and defeat Nigeria in an entertaining final.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons continued their dominance in African football on the women’s side. They advanced to the Round of 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and their beautiful gameplay against elite teams like Canada and England was significant to their recognition.

BBC African Footballer of the Year

Every year, the BBC's fan-voted award honours the best African football player. The most recent winners of this award are Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez. Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Touré are again the recipients with the most BBC African Footballer of the Year, winning it four times respectively.

50 Most Influential African Women in Sports Awards

The Women Sports Africa Network and Africa Sports Ventures Group jointly present this award to honour female innovators and leaders in African sports.

Glo-CAF Awards

These Globacom-sponsored awards have a long history of honouring African football brilliance and serving as a supplement to the CAF Awards by showcasing up-and-coming players and important figures in the game.

African Athletics Awards

These honours, which are presented by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), honour the best track and field athletes on the continent. In recognition of Africa's supremacy in sports, they honour achievement in competitions ranging from sprints to marathons.

African Basketball Awards

African basketball awards honour outstanding play and achievement in leagues and tournaments around the continent. These awards include: The FIBA AfroBasket MVP, the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket MVP, and the Basketball Africa League (BAL) MVP.

The BAL awards also honour players and coaches in a number of categories, such as sportsmanship and defensive player of the year.

African Rugby Awards

Recognising excellence in rugby, these awards celebrate the achievements of African rugby players and teams. 

Cheslin Kobe and Nadine Roos won the Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards at the SA Rugby Awards 2024. Other categories in this award include: Young Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Team of the Year.

African Sports Journalists Awards

For African sports journalists, the African Sports Journalists Awards honours achievements across print, television, radio, and the internet. African countries that honour journalists with this award include: the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Awards, Nigeria Sports Awards, and AIPS Sport Media Awards. 

African Sports Hall of Fame

The Africa Sports Hall of Fame honours and commemorates exceptional African sportsmen and sports figures who have significantly influenced the growth of sports on the continent. It was created to recognise those who have made significant contributions to Africa's athletic scene and excelled in a variety of sports.

According to CISA, the Hall of Fame recognises new inductees at an annual induction ceremony that typically takes place during the Convention Internationale du Sport en Afrique (CISA).