From scoring at Anfield to harvesting in Bambali – Senegalese football icon Sadio Mané has traded football boots for agro-industry with a massive $20.4 million (CFA 11.7 billion) investment in his hometown.
The project, known as SM10 Agro, was officially launched on Friday, September 19, 2026 in Bambali, Sédhiou Region, southern Senegal.
And unlike his charity projects before, Mané says this one is 100% from his own pocket.
What Is SM10 Agro?
The agro-industrial park will cover 500 hectares and will include:
– A modern mango processing plant with capacity of 8,500 tonnes per year (expandable to 10,500 tonnes)
– Products: mango pulp, dried mango, and mango butter plus guava processing
– A 500-hectare Kent mango plantation* with 78,000 trees – first harvest expected in 3 years
– Four processing units, plus a training centre and agricultural research facility
– Construction period: 18 months
The project is expected to create over 1,000 direct jobs at take-off and up to 2,500 jobs when fully operational.
Why Mangoes?
Bambali is located in Casamance, Senegal’s leading mango-producing region, but the region loses an estimated 30-45% of its harvest every year* due to poor storage, transport, and lack of processing factories.
Most processing plants are concentrated in Ziguinchor, leaving Sédhiou and Kolda – where Bambali is – poorly equipped. Farmers are forced to depend on Dakar for packaging and labeling.
SM10 Agro will give farmers a local market, including for mangoes that cannot be exported to the EU because of phytosanitary standards.
Mané Speaks: Legacy Beyond Football
Speaking at the foundation-laying ceremony, the former Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Al-Nassr forward, who retired from international football after AFCON 2025 as Senegal’s all-time top scorer with 52 goals, said:
“I don’t want to be remembered only for the goals I scored. Before the stadiums, the lights and the victories, there was, of course, Bambali. This is where my dreams began… We want to help create jobs and develop agriculture. I want our wealth to stay with us. The profits should benefit our people.”
This is a shift from his previous philanthropy in Bambali where he had already built a school, hospital, mosque, petrol station and bakery.
This time, he says, he wants to create production, employment and value, not just charity.
The project is seen as part of Senegal’s broader Agropole-Sud programme to strengthen agricultural value chains in the south, where mango production supports nearly 20,000 jobs.
From a village boy who played barefoot to a $20m industrialist – Mané is once again scoring, but this time for his people.
