CAF and TotalEnergies enhance youth development across Africa through “Drive the Future” partnership

CAF’s long-standing partner TotalEnergies continues to play a transformative role in youth football development across the continent through its expanded support to the recently concluded season of the CAF African Schools Football Championship.

Through its flagship ‘Drive the Future’ programme and a range of legacy-focused initiatives delivered during the competition’s Zonal Union and Continental Finals phases, TotalEnergies’ partnership with CAF continues to contribute to education, sustainability and opportunity creation for young African players, both on and off the pitch.

During the CAF African Schools Football Championship Zonal Qualifiers and Final, TotalEnergies implemented a series of structured youth-development workshops designed to equip young girls and boys with essential life skills beyond football.

The workshops covered road safety awareness, solar energy education and entrepreneurship inspiration sessions led by laureates of the Startupper of the Year Challenge by TotalEnergies.

Workshop participants also received learning materials, solar lamps and mentorship support aimed at encouraging creativity, leadership and innovation among Africa’s next generation.

During the Continental Finals, an additional digital content creation workshop was also offered to eight participants, who were equipped with smartphones and trained by Zimbabwean content creator “The African Finder” to cover the final games of the competition for TotalEnergies and CAF digital accounts.

Across CAF’s six Zonal Unions, approximately 200 young participants benefited from these initiatives.

As part of its commitment to improving access to sustainable energy solutions in Africa, TotalEnergies also awarded solar-powered classroom kits to selected winning teams’ countries and the host nations for each zonal phase and for the Final, allowing to equip 65 rooms.

Thanks to its “Café Bonjour”, TotalEnergies was also the official food & drinks provider for the Grassroot festivals rolled out by CAF for the Zonal Competitions and for the Final.

In another highlight of the partnership, the Player of the Competition in both the boys and girls’ divisions of the Continental Finals have been invited to participate as official ball retrievers at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2027.

This unique experience will provide the youngsters with direct exposure to Africa’s premier football tournament, while inspiring them to continue their development.

Through initiatives ranging from educational workshops and solar-energy donations to player recognition and elite competition exposure, TotalEnergies remains a key contributor to CAF’s vision of using football as a driver of sustainable development across Africa.

The CAF African Schools Football Championship remains Africa’s largest schools football programme, reaching more than 3-million boys and girls across the continent.