What Lionel Messi’s annual earnings can do for Kenya

How much do you think Lionel Messi earns in one year? If you said $20.4 million, then you are not too far from the truth. In Kenya, he would be earning the equivalent of Sh3 billion annually.

For your information, that does not include an additional $8.4 million in guaranteed compensation, commercial deals and sponsorships, which easily propels his total earnings to exceed the $50 million mark, which equates to approximately Sh7.5 billion.

In the world of soccer, Messi stands out not only for his incredible skills on the pitch but also for his staggering income, which has set tongues wagging.

The 36-year-old Argentine, also known as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) made headlines with his move to Major League Soccer team, Inter Miami, not just because his performance was also going to energise football — what Americans call soccer — but because his astronomical pay was set to rewrite all the rules of compensation for players in any sport.

According to the MLS Players Association, Messi will take home a jaw-dropping $20.4 million per annum.

The pay cheque has sent shockwaves not only through the sporting world but also in Kenya where he is loved and adored by football enthusiasts.

Messi made the shift from Paris Saint-Germain to Miami last summer, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with Inter Miami, a franchise co-owned by another iconic football legend, David Beckham. Messi’s impact in Florida was immediate and electrifying. He played a pivotal role in Inter Miami’s victorious Leagues Cup campaign, scoring ten goals in just seven games.

This marked a significant milestone for the club as they secured their first-ever piece of silverware. However, their success wasn’t limited to the Leagues Cup; they also reached the final of the US Open Cup, narrowly missing the trophy, largely due to Messi’s absence due to injury.

While Messi’s soccer prowess astounds many, his annual earnings, which make him the highest-paid sportsman globally, tell a story of their own.

To put his income into perspective, consider the renovation of the dilapidated Kasarani National Stadium in Kenya, which recently gobbled up Sh800 million as the stadium prepares to host an international event.

This means in one fell swoop, Messi’s annual salary could fund the refurbishment of three stadiums the size of Kasarani, and still leave room for additional projects.

Kenya, which is renowned for long-distance races, allocated only Sh6.4 billion in the first sports budget of President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government.

That is to say, Messi’s pay can cover half of Kenya’s sports budget in just one year.

This year, Nairobi County celebrated raising the highest earnings ever from the six key own-source revenue streams including parking fees, rates, single business permits, house rents, building permits and, billboards and adverts.

However, with his earning, the football wizard’s income equals the county’s three months earnings from own-source revenue.

In fact, Messi’s earnings surpass the entire own-revenue collection of Nyeri County, which amounted to Sh413.3 million, underscoring the immense financial clout he possesses.

His annual income is more than double the own revenue generated by Narok County, a region renowned for its high tourist arrivals, especially at the Masai Mara National Reserve, where revenues generated average Sh2.4 billion per year. Messi’s salary is also equivalent to the Sh3.2 billion set aside in President Ruto’s first budget for the affordable and social housing programme meant to build houses for the less fortunate.

Just to demonstrate how hefty his pay cheque is, his annual income is more than the revenue recently generated through a recent tax amnesty by the Kenya Revenue Authority, which amounted to Sh2 billion.

More than 1,000 individuals and companies took up the offer when KRA floated it earlier in the year.

If Messi were a government, and he allocated his annual earnings to provide credit and working capital to millions of farmers through farmer organisations or cooperatives, he could easily fund half of Kenya’s programme.

In the Budget that Treasury CS Francis Ndung’u presented in June, the government allocated Sh7.2 billion to the programme. So, to plant or to play? That should be the question that the children of farmers should be asking after reading this story.

By the time Messi’s contract expires after two-and-a-half years, he will have earned Sh7.5 billion as salary although his total earnings will shoot past the Sh18 billion mark if you factor in endorsements, a revenue stream that is enough to build thousands of kilometres of roads in Kenya.