South African telecommunications company MTN has agreed a deal to become the title sponsor of competitions operated by the Cameroon Professional Football League (LPFC).
The three-year agreement will run until 2020. The deal will be worth XAF1bn (€1.5m/$1.7m) per year, according to the Jeune Afrique magazine.
Under the agreement, Cameroon’s top two divisions will be known as MTN Elite One and MTN Elite Two. A significant proportion of MTN’s financial contribution will be shared among the two leagues’ 36 clubs.
According to Jeune Afrique, MTN will also enhance digital capabilities at stadia that host league matches.
The partnership is also designed to filter through to aid the national team ahead of Cameroon’s hosting of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
“The agreement that we are executing is borne of our collective ambition to raise the performance bar of local football to the level of that of the Indomitable Lions; kings of Africa, our pride,” MTN Cameroon chief executive Philisiwe Sibiya said, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
MTN previously sponsored the leagues between 2002 and 2013.