African football’s top club and national team competitions are to be sponsored by French oil and gas company Total, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Thursday.

CAF said Total would take over from mobile phone company Orange as headline sponsor of its 10 competitions for the next eight years, starting with the African Nations Cup in Gabon in January.

The value of the sponsorship deal was not disclosed but CAF hopes it will provide the impetus to develop football on the continent.

“This partnership is a major milestone in our ongoing search for additional resources to accelerate African football’s development, bring its governance up to date, upgrade its sports infrastructure and advance its performance globally,” CAF president Issa Hayatou said in a statement.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com