Australian rules football in Africa is most organisedin South Africa, although there are programs under development in many African nations includingBotswana,Egypt,Ghana,Kenya andZimbabwe and there are plans to introduce the sport into more African countries.

Immigration to Australia saw a rise in the number of Africans playing in theAustralian Football League, among the first were African-Americans likeTom Banks and South Africans includingAubrey MacKenzie andDamien Cupido.

Kevin Sheedy predicted an African future for the AFL when he recruited Ethiopian Goaner Tutlan in 2004. The success ofMajak Daw saw a rise in the popularity of AFL among South Sudanese migrants^[1] which have attracted the attention of AFL recruiters in search for the combination of height and athleticism.^[2] An increasing number of players descended from theIndigenous peoples of Africa have played professionally in theAustralian Football League, holdingAfrican Australian identity. Tall Sudanese players are now sought by AFL recruiters to fill key positions including theruck.^[3]

The government ofBotswana approached the AFL in 2009 with a view to extending theFootyWILD program from South Africa across the border into Botswana. Australian football in South Africa began in theNorth West Province, an area bordering Botswana and with numerous cultural, linguistic and historical ties to the neighboring country.^[4]

While the sport hasn't been played in Ethiopia, the country is notable for producing AFL players from the migrant community in Australia.

• 
  Josh Draper with Fremantle in 2025
• 
  Changkuoth Jiath of Hawthorn in 2024

Australian rules football was played by theANZACs inEgypt duringWorld War I. The sport has since been revived by Australian expats, with anAuskick program being started inCairo.^[9] The Australian Embassy in Cairo has backed the program.^[10]

Australian football was played on a non-organised level inGhana in 2007, where traveling Australians played with children.^[15]

In early 2009,AFL club theWestern Bulldogs announced that they were in talks withAzumah Nelson regarding the introduction of Australian rules football at the Azumah Nelson Foundation (AZNEF) Sports Academy.^[16] Nelson was quoted as saying "Once we become familiar with handling the oval shaped ball, I am sure that Ghana will produce many champions for the AFL Clubs in Australia"^[17] The Bulldogs also stated that they may travel to Ghana to visit the AZNEF Sports Academy in future.^[17]

• 
  Isaac Quaynor playing for Collingwood in 2025
• 
  Connor Idun playing for GWS in 2019
• 
  Joel Amartey playing for Sydney in 2018

There have been efforts to start the sport at junior level since 2004.^[23] Gus Horsey from theBaltimore Washington Eagles from theUnited States Australian Football League visited the country in February and September, running several footy clinics and organising a grand final between four local teams inNairobi. During Horsey's second visit to Kenya to coach Australian rules, he regularly trained over 100 children after school with help from local soccer coaches,^[24] although plans through USFooty Kids to continue the clinics in the future did not go ahead.

The AFL reported in 2009 that junior clinics were being conducted in Kenya under the same model as FootyWILD in South Africa.^[4]

In 2015, schoolboys international matches were held on the Kenya-Tanzania border.^[25]

• 
  Bigoa Nyuon with Richmond in 2021

Educaring Africa ran clinicsNtakataka Village inMonkey Bay in 2019.^[33]

While the sport hasn't been played in Nigeria, some AFL players from the migrant community in Australia have strong connections to the country.

• 
  Joel Wilkinson with Gold Coast in 2012

Australian rules football was played sporadically inSenegal during the 1990s, after Darwin-based Mark Moretti visitedDakar for two months in 1991. Moretti had introduced the sport to local children originally as an example of overseas culture, but there was interest from both the children and some local soccer administrators in continuing the sport. When Moretti returned in 1997 there had not been any progress, so he organised some footballs and other material to be sent to Senegal and the country was represented at theInternational Australian Football Council AGM inDarwin in 1999.^[35] Around this time, two teams were established, named the Crocodiles and the Hares, but the sport has since disappeared in the country.^{[citation needed]}

A team representing Senegal appeared at the "World 9s" inCatalonia in 2008, consisting of Senegalese nationals resident in Spain and competing in the Catalan AFL.^{[citation needed]}

Collingwood FC recruited 202cm Senegalese basketballerBassirou Faye as an international rookie in 2021.^{[citation needed]}

The Witwatersrand Gold Rush brought miners from Australia to South Africa and records indicate that it was played from the 1880s to 1909 and was for a time during 1904, the most popular football code in the colony. It was reintroduced by the Australian Defence Force in 1997 and in the 2000s became one of the fastest growing places for the sport outside of Australia, becoming widely played in theNorth West Province with tens of thousands of players. The governing body isAFL South Africa. Prominent South African born AFL players includeDamian Cupido andJason Johannisen.

While the sport hasn't been played in Sudan, the country is notable for producing AFL players from the migrant community in Australia.

• 
  Majak Daw with North Melbourne in 2018
• 
  Mabior Chol with Richmond in 2018

While the sport hasn't been played in South Sudan, the country is notable for producing many AFL players from the migrant community in Australia. A team representing South Sudan has won the World 9s twice most recently in 2021.^[43]

• 
  Luamon Lual playing for Essendon in 2025
• 
  Michael Frederick playing for Fremantle in 2025
• 
  Akec Makur Chuot playing for Richmond in 2020
• 
  Aliir Aliir playing for Sydney in 2017

Non-organised Australian football at junior level featuring locals has been played inUganda in 2006.^[57]

Australian football was played on an informal basis inWestern Sahara in 2008.^[58]

The sport ofAustralian rules football was in its early stages of development inZimbabwe in 2008,^[59] with Australian Football Zimbabwe^[59] in the planning stage, with its main aims being to combine Aussie rules football as a developing sport, with health clinics and information sessions to be run to assist disadvantaged and sick children.

In 2020, AFL Zimbabwe was formed as the governing body for the sport in Zimbabwe.^[60]

• 
  Tendai Mzungu with Fremantle in 2015

An increasing number of players descended from theIndigenous peoples of Africa have played professionally in theAustralian Football League, holdingAfrican Australian identity. The successful career of Majak Daw in the AFL is credited as having inspired many children from the South Sudanese migrant community in Australia to take up the sport.^[62]

• 
  Héritier Lumumba with Melbourne in 2015

A team known asTeam Africa, drawn from various Melbourne African communities, competed in the2008 Australian Football International Cup's Multicultural Challenge, playing matches againstSouth Africa, Tonga and an Asian community side dubbedTeam Asia.^[64]

Team Africa's players were from countries includingSomalia, Egypt,Ethiopia, Sudan,Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe andDjibouti.^[64]

• Australian rules football in Africa

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2021
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2025