Top 10 Best Leagues In Africa (2024)
Check out the list of best leagues in Africa. Africa keeps growing when it comes to football, and our local leagues are getting more interesting, accumulating more and more fans and followers. While almost all African countries can boast of their own local football league today, some, indeed, are better than others.
Football is more embraced in some African countries than in others. Some local leagues are more matured than others – in terms of supporters, in terms of sponsors, coverage, publicity, and so on.
Here, we will discuss the top ten best leagues in Africa. Here are they:
Top 10 Best Leagues In Africa
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1. Tunisia Professional League
Tunisia is one of the leading countries in Africa as a whole, despite sitting in a quiet place in the Northern part of the continent. When it comes to football, Tunisia is actually influential. They have a superb national team that is a tough bone to crack, and they also have a football league that is referred to as the best in the continent.
Here is an exciting league that keeps pulling the attention from various angles. Of course, there might not be a huge presence of sponsorship like some other leagues right now, however, Tunisia as a country that is progressive as far as infrastructure is concerned has an advantage that is being capitalized on by the football administrative.
Indeed, one of the ways to determine how great a league is, has to do with the types of clubs they produce and the impact they have at the continental level. There are some superb Tunisian football clubs doing excellently well for themselves, and boosting the reputation of the local league in the process. For example, the likes of Esperance de Tunis and Club Africain are continental heavyweights that are usually regarded as favourites to win the CAF Champions League every season.
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2. Egyptian Premier league -Egypt
The Egyptian premier league is the second-best league in Africa. The league is sponsored by ETISALAT and it is one of the oldest leagues in the continent (it has been in existence as early as 1948).
One of the things that made the league an outstanding one is how the Egyptian State broadcaster and other private media institutions are usually eager to publicize the league, and they have spent millions of Egyptian pounds on this. It gets easier as the Egyptian national team is a classic one that has won several AFCONS tittles, and the money is usually used to invest in the league.
The likes of Al Ahly, Zamalek and Ismaily are Egyptian clubs that have great influence as far as continental football is concerned. Al Ahly, for instance, has won the CAF Champions League on several occasions.
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3. The Botola
This is the Morocco professional league, and it is regarded as the third-best African league. The Botola means “The Tournament”, and the country’s league is also referred to as the Moroccan Premier League (MPL). The league is a professional one for men’s football clubs and it is being contested by 16 clubs each season.
Morocco also has nice infrastructures that have been utilized by the football body to ensure the progress of the league. It is a league with teams with nice stadiums and supporters that are paid reasonably well.
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4. Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1
Next on the list is The Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1, which used to be known as the Championnat National 1. It is the country’s professional men’s football league and serves as the top division of the Algerian football league system. It is interesting to note that it is not just one of the best in the Northern American region, but in the whole of Africa.
The Algerian league is also contested by 16 clubs, and it can boast of having some of the best clubs in Africa. The league picked its current name from 2014 after Algerian telecommunications company Mobilis decided to be its sponsor (pumping more money into the league). It is not quite surprising seeing the Algerian local league being among the leading leagues since the country itself can boast of having one of the best national teams in the continent (they won the 2019 Afcon title).
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5. The Vodacom Ligue 1
Finally, the attention is out of North Africa. Next on the list is the top division of the Congolese Association Football Federation. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country that has set out to invest in football and is now reaping a lot of rewards from this exciting game.
We should add that the league is not only one of the best in Africa, but also one of the oldest from the continent (created back then in 1958). The league can boast of having a big and successful club like Vita Club.
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6. Sudanese league-Sudan
Although Sudan might currently appear as one of the weaklings of African football, the country can boast of having one of the best leagues in the continent. Of course, the league is being mainly sustained by the country’s oil money. As a result of the money being pumped continually into the league, clubs were paying the players well, and it has a positive effect on it all.
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7. ABSA Premier Soccer League-South Africa
South Africa is generally one of the African countries that are at the front when it comes to having a nice economy and great infrastructures. The country has also invested a lot of resources in football, and it keeps elevating her status as far as African football is concerned. Still, the only African country that can boast about having hosted the FIFA football World Cup (which she did in 2010), the South African premier league “PSL”, which was established in 1996, has, despite being one of the youngest leagues in Africa, roared to the top to become one of the best.
Of course, no one should ignore the fact that money played a role here. In 2007, about $61 million was pumped into the league by its major sponsor, aside the $195 million deal agreed with Super sports
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8. The Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL)
The Nigerian professional league is regarded as one of the best in the continent. It used to be greater than what it is currently, but unfortunately experienced dwindling fortunes, particularly since the late 2000s. Despite all challenges, the Nigerian league has produced superb players who are doing fine outside the continent. The country can also boast of having a formidable national team that is a tough bone to break (still one of the best in Africa).
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9. Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast)
Known as The Ivory Coast MTN Ligue 1, the French country has one of the best leagues in the continent, which was established as far back as in the year 1960. Interestingly, Ivory Coast has produced various African stars that have made severe exploits plying their trades in Europe (the likes of Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Yaya Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, and so on).
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10. Malian Première Division
The tenth is Mali’s top division of football, which was established in 1966. It has been a professional one since 2004 and is overseen by the Malian Football Federation. Since it’s official sponsor is Orange, the official name of the league is Ligue 1 Orange Mali, and it is one that has a penchant for running from December to late August.
Unlike various other African leagues, Mali consists of fourteen clubs and it is the champions that represent the country in the CAF Champions League. Although it also has its own challenges, the league remains one of the best the continent can boast of.
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that there are some other African leagues doing well too, and in the coming years, with the right sponsor, they will also grow very big and can find themselves in the list of top ten best leagues in Africa.
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