Eric Opoku backs Black Challenge with cash and agribusiness pledge

Minister for Food and Agriculture Eric Opoku has donated GH¢50,000 to Ghana’s national amputee football team, the Black Challenge, and pledged support to help its eight locally based players enter poultry farming alongside their sporting careers.

The intervention brings an economic empowerment dimension to Ghana’s preparations for the 2026 Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico, connecting the team’s pursuit of sporting success with opportunities to earn a living through agribusiness.

Opoku visited the players during training at the University of Ghana, accompanied by Deputy Minister John Dumelo, the ministry’s Chief Director and its budget officer.

Addressing the team, he said the delegation’s presence was a message of national solidarity as the players prepared to represent Ghana on the world stage.

“You are going to hold the flag of Ghana, and our presence here indicates that the whole nation is behind you,” he said.

“You are stronger than you know,” Opoku added, encouraging the players to compete with confidence and make the country proud. He said the team needed both motivational and financial backing, before announcing the GH¢50,000 contribution.

The donation follows a GH¢100,000 contribution from dancehall artiste Stonebwoy, bringing the two contributions to GH¢150,000 in support for the team’s preparations.

Beyond the immediate World Cup campaign, Opoku pledged to enrol the eight locally based players in the government’s Nkoko Nketenkete poultry programme, with a special package to be pursued after their return from Mexico.

“When you return, we want the players to be part of our Nkoko Nketenkete programme. We’re putting together a special package, so as soon as you return, get in touch with us,” he said.

The proposed support offers a link between national service through sport and the government’s wider agricultural development agenda.

If implemented with accessible training and suitable production facilities, the proposed support could help demonstrate how national agricultural programmes can include Para athletes as business owners and food producers.

It could also provide a practical example for cooperation between sports bodies and agricultural agencies, with athlete welfare extending to livelihoods during and after competitive careers.

Business guidance and continuing technical support would be important to making such an approach sustainable. Ghana will face Angola, Colombia and Iraq in Group D of the World Amputee Football Federation tournament, scheduled for 13–22 November 2026 in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico.

Twenty-four national teams will compete for the title. “We are here to be part of your story,” Opoku told the team.