Forbes’ list of highest paid African footballers

Updated Saturday, June 29th 2013 at 19:25 GMT +3

NAIROBI, KENYA: Sports is big business. This is true globally and in Kenya, sports has created multi-millionaires, especially in athletics. Our sports heroes, however, earn peanuts compared to the dollar billionaires from other parts of the world that owe their riches to their prowess in the field, track, golf courses and other sports arena. A recently released list of the richest sportsmen shows golfer, Tiger Woods, as the highest paid athlete in the world, getting $78.1 million a year in salaries, winnings and endorsements. Tennis player Roger Federer and basketball player Kobe Bryant are second and third respectively.

Globally stars like David Beckham ($47 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($44 million) and Lionel Messi ($41 million) are the highest earning footballers and ranked eighth, ninth and tenth on the Forbes list. The Forbes list of Africa’s highest paid footballers based solely on their annual salaries are:

Yaya Toure

Country of citizenship: Ivory Coast

Club: Manchester City

Annual salary: $18.2 million

The 28 year-old Ivorian midfielder is the highest paid African player in the English Premier league. Made global headlines last summer when he left Barcelona (after a very successful streak) to join his elder brother Kolo at Manchester City. Smart move: Toure currently earns $320,000 a week. Other compensation includes an image rights payment of $2.5 million a year and an additional $1.3 million bonus every time Manchester City qualifies for the Champions League.

Samuel Eto’o

Country of citizenship: Cameroon

Club: Anzhi

Annual salary:  $13.4 million

The revered Cameroonian striker is a four-time winner of the African Player of the Year award. He scored over 100 goals with previous club Barcelona FC over a five season period. His weekly take-home pay stands at $300,000. Eto’o bagged the African Player of the Year award for three consecutive years  in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Didier Drogba

Country of citizenship: Ivory Coast

Club: Galatasaray

Annual salary: $12.9 million

One of the most highly rated strikers in the world, Drogba is currently the highest goal-scorer for the Cote D’Ivoire national soccer team and is Chelsea’s 6th highest goal scorer of all time. Currently his earnings stand at $185,000 a week. The 33 year-old has endorsement deals with Nike, Pepsi, Samsung and Orange France. Large heart: Has committed some $5 million to building a children’s home in Abidjan.

Seydou Keita

Country of citizenship: Mali

Club: Dalian Aerbin

Annual salary: 12 million

Born in Bamako, Mali he has previously for Barcelona and is a key player in the Mali national team. Keita started playing for Mali in 2000 and has so far represented the country in six African Cup of Nations tournaments. Previously, he helped the under-20s finish third at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, scoring in the last match against Uruguay and being named the tournament’s best player.

Emmanuel Adebayor

Country of citizenship: Togo

Club: Tottenham

Annual salary: $10 million

Born to Nigerian parents in Togo, the Manchester City striker started out his career playing for OC Agaza, a Togolese football club based in Lome. In July 2009 he exited Arsenal, signing a five-year contract with Manchester City, for a transfer fee of $40 million. Earns $220,000 a week. In January signed a loan deal to play for Real Madrid. Endorses energy drink, Power horse.