Ghanaian players previously fancied European clubs due to the track records of the likes of Abedi Pele, Michael Essien, Anthony Yeboah, Sammy Kuffour and Sulley Muntari among others but now the trend and dynamics has changed as a host of talented players from the same country are trooping to Rwanda.
On August 5, 2018, Prosper Donkor started the exodus of Ghanaian players to Rwanda. Michael Sarpong and Olokwei Commodore also joined in October 2018 and June 2019 respectively. The trio featured for Rayon Sports.
Sarpong, in particular, was a delight to watch spearheading Rayon's 2018/2019 title triumph with 16 league goals. His output paved the way for Abdul Muniru who made little impact as well as Sulley Sadick who went on to shine at both Espoir FC and Bugesera FC.
Previously, between 2012 to 2016, Ghanaian players were queuing to play in Ethiopia. Ghana at the time had the highest number of foreign players in their league and hence homegrown players would struggle for playing time.
Today, there's a new trend. Ghanaian players are flooding the Rwandan league for greener pastures. When you talk about talents, only a few or no West African country beats Ghana. There are many talented players whose standards may, yes, not be good enough to play in Europe and countries like Rwanda offers them a good platform to excel.
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Currently, Ghana dominates the list of foreign players in the Primus National League after Burundi and Uganda.
There are as many as 12 Ghanaians who are certified to play the 2024/25 PNL season. The number could even increase as more are still on trials at various club in the pre-season.
Mukura boasts of four Ghanaian players namely Samuel Pimpong, Abdul Jalilu, Vincent Adams and Agyenim Boateng Mensah. APR have Richmond Lamptey and Seidu Yussif, Police have Peter Agblevor and Issah Yakubu in their ranks while Muhazi United have Joseph Sackey and Mohammed Aminu. Sulley Mohammed plies his trade at Musanze FC and Rayon Sports have James Akaminko in their fold amongst others.
What makes Rwanda a lucrative market for Ghanaian footballers?
Well, the dream of all Ghanaian players who ply their trade locally is to move out and play abroad. They seize every opportunity which comes their way. Football in West Africa especially Ghana and Nigeria doesn't pay awesomely despite producing talented players.
Comparing averagely, clubs in Rwanda pay better than Ghana. With the exception of the big teams such as Kumasi Asante Kotoko, Accra Hearts of Oak and a few other teams which pay good money, other clubs are still struggling financially.
A small club in Ghana can pay monthly salaries as low as 1000 cedis, which correspond to around Rwf 90,000 whereas a small club in Rwanda can afford to pay Rwf 300,000 worth of a minimum salary which even sounds enough to lure an ambitious talented player from abroad.
Again, unlike Ghana, where talents is in abundance, there is shortage of football talents in Rwanda and that paves the way for foreign players to play in the country.
In Ghana, if you turn down the chance to play for a small salary, another player, who is equally good or even better than you, will be ready to take the amount. This makes club administrators think they are even doing players a favor by offering those peanuts of salary.
To address the issue, the Ghana FA is working on plans to enforce a standardized minimum salary structure which every club must adhere to going forward.
Again, by virtue of playing abroad, which some players are more proud of, it adds value to their career and they command the needed respect when they go out. This, in fact, is synonymous in most West African countries.
This transfer window, APR set the pace by acquiring two of the best players in the Ghana Premier League in Kumasi Asante Kotoko skipper Richmond Lamptey and Dauda Yussif Seidu of Samartex. Kotoko is a royal club owned by Asante Kingdom Otumfour Osei Tutu. They pay players very well and the standard is great.
Lamptey refused to extend his contract after three years at the club and APR swooped for him for a reported $120,000 signing on fee while Dauda was also bought for $100,000.
The two transfer deals sent a strong warning that Rwandan clubs mean business and it has now been a total swoop by the local clubs with more teams signing players from Ghana.
APR can pay a top foreign player a salary in the region of $10,000. The truth is that even some clubs in Europe especially Scandinavia can't afford that. This has made Ghanaian players, who were previously rushing to Sweden, Norway and Finland consider to play in Rwanda.
Others such as Police FC, Rayon, Mukura, Musanze and until recently AS Kigali all have the capacity to pay good money to good players.
Abdul Jalilu, who captained Dreams FC to the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup semifinals before signing for Mukura Victory Sports mentioned that Ghanaian players are in Rwanda to not only make a living but to also excel in their football careers.
"We have family to take care of, many people depend on us and we have responsibility to feed them; so definitely we have to make money. I am not playing football to compete with Ronaldo or Messi, I am doing my best and playing well to get enough money to support my family," Jalilu told Weekend Sport.
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"After graduating from Dreams FC youth team to the senior team and after captaining the team for four years, I thought it wise that the time has come for me to move on. I led the team to Confederation Cup semifinals and others must take the mantle," he added.
Gradually, Rwandan football is growing, taking football seriously and the country itself is good enough to live there. The law and order serve the purpose accordingly.
The influx of Ghanaian players, and West African players at large, has arguably helped homegrown Rwandan players to improve their performance.
Competing with good foreign players has help them grow and raise their level of performance both at club and national team level. This is a major factor which has now seen Amavubi move to the top Group D in the 2026 World Cup Africa qualifiers, well ahead of African giants Nigeria, Benin, South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe after four rounds of games.
However, Rwanda is not a bed of roses as, unless you come on a straight contract, you have to prove yourself in trials before you get a contract.
There are also many Ghanaian players who come to Rwanda but fail to get contracts after trials and, as result, they return home.
