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A day before, on the invitation of Haji Arafat, the club Vice President, we visited Avic town, Young Africans' training base located in Kigamboni Dar-es-Salaam, to interview Uganda Cranes assistant captain Khalid Aucho and the Young Africans president Engineer Hersi Said.
On 17th October 2022, this writer and colleague Clive Kyazze travelled to Dar-es-Salaam to cover the Kariakoo Derby, one of Africa's biggest derby games, pitting Young Africans and Simba SC.
The derby played out to an entertaining 1-1 draw, with Augustine Okrah opening the scoring for Simba before Stephan Aziz Ki levelled for Young Africans with a scorcher of a freekick.
A day before, on the invitation of Haji Arafat, the club Vice President, we visited Avic town, Young Africans' training base located in Kigamboni Dar-es-Salaam, to interview Uganda Cranes assistant captain Khalid Aucho and the Young Africans president Engineer Hersi Said.
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'Engineer', as he is fondly called, had spent two seasons in the office, having revitalized the club from a terrible period between 2017 and 2020.
Said Comes To Office
The 38-year-old civil engineer was lured into supporting the club by his late father and would later help it regain its status, but how did it start?
"My late Dad introduced me to the club; I remember one day Yanga lost to Simba, and my Dad was very disappointed."
"I promised myself that one day I'll do everything to help this club improve," Said noted.
In 2020 with Young Africa in its worst financial state, Said, a director of investment at Ghalib Said Mohamed group of companies then, was tasked to head a transformation committee that sourced funds to run the club, a job he executed perfectly.
In Comes GSM
"When I headed the committee, I convinced my boss at GSM group of companies, Mr Ghalib Said Mohamed, to financially support the club for a short time, and he did," Said noted
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"I started signing top players like Diarra (G.K), Aucho, Aziz Ki, Mayele etc., for us to compete at the start of the 2021/2022 season; we also ensured we had a training base where we are now."
The Transformation Project/ Sevilla Deal
With GSM's financial support on a short-term basis, Said had to ensure that the club was self-sufficient in no time, and in came the Sevilla partnership in 2020.
The partnership saw Young Africans receive consultancy on club management, activities for fans, digital transformation, Marketing, sales, Economic control, and international development.
"We wanted the club to be run more professionally but also create a key structure, and the Sevilla partnership went a long way in helping achieve the goal." Said told me then.
Club Ownership/ Fans Registration
With the partnership in place, the club had to decide on the club ownership, like who owns what stake and in what capacity.
This is when it was decided that 51% would go to the fans (supporters) and 49% to the investors.
A limited company was also formed, consisting of nine representatives, five from the club investors and four from the fan's groups; a fan then had to pay 5$ to register and another 10$ to be a member, along with $2.5 to get a card.
Today the club has up to 900 branches across Tanzania with fully paid-up subscribers allowing the club to rake in up to USD 700k.
"The fan's structure allowed us to get in the money, which helped us to run the club.”
“That's why we have been able to motivate all our players and keep them at the club,” he noted.
The Success
After making the major signings, the club won its first league title in four years, ending the Simba dominance; they also won the domestic cup and beat Simba SC, to the charity shield.
This season Young Africans have made more history, retaining the league and reaching their maiden CAF Confederations Cup final for the first time. They are also in the semi-finals of the domestic cup.
The Future
Hersi Said revealed that the club has plans to construct their own stadium in Jangweni near their club house.
"The plan is to build our stadium Insha Allah (God Willing) in Jangweni near our club house.”
“It will be a 20,000-seater and will host all our games apart from the derby (Kariakoo), which is hosted at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium,” Said noted.
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With how the club is structured, it's evident that Young Africans will continue to dominate the Tanzanian Premier League which has now rebranded to Ligi Ku Bara as they continue their asendency to the top of African Football.
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