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Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi's MIDROC Investment Group will pay to build a new stadium for Saint George SC, Ethiopia's most successful football club, and Al-Amoudi has pledged a plot of land outside Addis Ababa that could house the club's players.
The club announced the plans at its general assembly in Addis Ababa, where members also gave unanimous backing to the interim board led by Nesibu Chako to stay on for a full four-year term. MIDROC, the club's main partner, will cover construction of the stadium. Its capacity, cost and location have not been disclosed.
The assembly also heard that MIDROC, Pepsi and Dashen Bank have together pledged more than $3.1 million a season to the club. Mastercard is putting $1.5 million toward upgrading the Yidnekatchew Tessema academy, which Saint George runs under a partnership with Portuguese club Benfica.
A long wait for a home
Saint George, founded in 1935, has won more Ethiopian league titles than any other club and plays its home games at Addis Ababa Stadium. It first announced plans for its own ground in November 2007, when Al-Amoudi was expected to cover about 80% of the cost. Work started in the CMC area of the capital but stalled amid delays and money problems.
The club owns two plots in Lemi Kura, a sub-city of Addis Ababa. One, covering 63,000 square meters, is now held by the government, and Chako has said he hopes it will be returned so MIDROC can build on it. "We hope the government will return the land to us so that MIDROC Investment Group can build us a new stadium," he said in August.
The new commitment marks a return for Al-Amoudi, who has backed Saint George since the 1990s. MIDROC stopped funding the club after falling out with former chairman Abinet Gebremeskel, who was replaced by Chako in May. Earlier this year, the club was in a relegation fight, and its top scorer left after four months without pay. Saint George opened the new Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Ethio Electric.
Al-Amoudi's fortune
Born in Dessie in northern Ethiopia to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother, Al-Amoudi, 79, holds Saudi citizenship and built his fortune in construction, oil refining and property in Saudi Arabia and Sweden. He is the largest individual foreign investor in Ethiopia, where MIDROC has interests in gold mining, construction, farming, hotels, fuel distribution and aviation.
He is worth about $9.1 billion, according to Bloomberg.
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