Lionel Messi has become the second football billionaire after Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine is the highest earning player in 2020 according to Forbe’s latest ranking of footballers’ earnings. He is set to earn $126 million at the end year, putting Juventus’ Ronaldo at the second place with $117 million.

Messi came first with a $92 million salary and $34 million in endorsement deals that increased his earnings to $1 billion before tax. The Barcelona captain had a lot of controversy surrounding his contract at the end of the season following his request to leave the club. His forced decision to stay at his childhood club means he will become richer at the end of the year.

The unsettling situation however casts further speculation about Messi’s future at the end of the current season. With Man City on the sideline watching, and Barcelona keen on keeping him, one can only wait and see.

Four others who made the top five ranking

Cristiano Ronaldo is trailing Messi with $117 million in total earnings; $70 million earned from salary and $47 million earned from endorsements. His physique has not only made him the most famous athlete in the world, with over 457 million followers across social media, it has also made him a top shot for brands. Nike, Herbalife and Clear Shampoo are all on his list sponsors, adding to the wealth from his CR7 clothing brands. Ronaldo was the first footballer to make a billionaire.

Neymar is in the third place with $96 million earning for the year 2020. The Paris Saint Germain playmaker is switching to Puma after his 78 million pounds with Nike came to an end. He has, however, earned $18 million from endorsements before he made the switch. The Brazilian became the most expensive transfer in the football market when he moved from Barcelona to PSG in 2017, at a record $263 million.

Kylian Mbappe sprang to the fourth place as a surprise with $42 million earning; $28 million from salary and $14 million from endorsement. At his age, the French international is setting a pace faster than those of Messi and Ronaldo. At 19, Mbappe was the second youngest player to score in a world cup, following Brazilian legend Pele who registered his first world cup goal in 1958 at the age of 17.

Forbes noted that the World Cup winner is already ahead of the game’s leaders when they were his age. With 103 goals, Mbappe has 12 more career goals than Messi and 76 more than Ronaldo had at 21. The youngster has become a darling to Hublot and Nike, and was announced by EA Sports as cover player for FIFA 21, making him the youngest player to appear solo on the game’s cover.

With this uprising record, the Paris Saint Germain wonder-kid is set to usurp the leaders of the earning table. The Parisian became the most expensive teenager when he was signed by the Paris side from Monaco at $215 million in 2017, for a contract that will fetch him $28 million this season.

Moreover, Mbappe is reportedly telling PSG he wants to leave, and rumor has it his destination will be Real Madrid, which will mean more than tripled pay for him. Though his earning is expected to double with a new contract offer from PSG, a move to the Spanish side will make him one of the highest paid athletes in the world.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah grabbed the 5th position on the table with $37 million in earnings; $24 million in salary and $13 million in endorsements. He has a sponsorship deal with Vodafone that extends to the UN ambassadorial program aimed at providing digital learning tools to refugees in his country home Egypt.

Salah has over time established himself in Liverpool as a force to reckon with, and thus increased his position in a table where it’s uncommon to see African players at the top.

However, Messi’s earnings have nothing to do with his desire to leave the Catalan side as the 33 years old has repeatedly said he is not playing for the money, he only wants to win games and consequently, laurels.

Barcelona has scheduled an election for March 21, in order to find a replacement for the club’s president Josep Bartomeu, whose leadership has been characterized by failures. The club is hoping that electing a new president next year will tame the dust of inconsistencies that has followed Bartomeu’s leadership, and convince Messi to stay at the club.

Solarize Africa, the pan-African energy leasing company has raised a further $10 million fund to expand its push for cleaner energy in the continent. The series B round investment was provided by French development finance institution, Proparco, together with other investors, EAV and EDFI ElectriFI, that are already part of Solarize investors.

Head of equity investments- Financial Institutions & VC, Proparco, Johan Choux said the partnership will propel African SMEs to pioneer their road toward cleaner energy.

“Solarize represents a compelling opportunity for Proparco in the off-grid sector. We are proud to support this innovative project as a first co-investment alongside a strong provider such as EAV. It should remarkably enable African SMEs to start their road towards greener energy through the provision of a decentralized renewable energy production solution,” he said.

The development offers succor to the continent’s debilitating energy sector as it will offer alternatives to the existing unreliable sources of power supply. Africa power journal, ESI said Solarize Africa is aiming to provide innovative financing solutions to industrial and commercial companies. The solution limits the upfront investment and provides manageable installment payment and short payback periods.

The CEO and co-founder of Solarize Africa, Jan-Albert Valk, said financing has been the bane of development of clean energy in Africa, even when its sectors, including the SMEs have been prepared for it.

“By addressing this critical value chain need we can help to fast-track green energy adoption. We are proud to welcome Proparco as a new investor in Solarize and we are grateful for the support we have received by EAV as our anchor investor almost since our inception, and by the confidence our existing investors EAV and Electrifi have shown by this follow-up investment,” he said

Solarize is operational in Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda, and aims to use the finances to expand its operation to other African countries.

“We are excited to continue to support the Solarize team as they grow their geographical footprint and impact across Africa. The team has continued to demonstrate their bankability with successful deployments within a short period, strategic market expansion, pipeline development and agility in handling the COVID-19 crisis,” said Paras Patel, partner at Energy Access Ventures.

Solarize’s innovative financing solution remains compelling for many commercial and industrial clients across Africa grappling with frequent outages and fluctuating costs that affect productivity,” Patel added.

Dominiek Deconinck, CIO at EDFI Management Company said the progress made so far by Solarize has encouraged further investment interest.

“Since EDFI ElectriFi’s first investment, Solarize Africa has successfully rolled out its business plan strengthening its team, commissioning its first project and expanding its pipeline through additional partnerships. Only one year later, we are delighted to back the company with additional investment. We believe Solarize is excellently positioned to realize its ambitious plans,” Deconinck said.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar energy startup, Yellow has raised $3.3 million Series A round to expand its energy distribution to over 100,000 consumers in Uganda and Malawi.

Yellow has focused on delivering electricity to rural Ugandans and Malawians, and has since it was founded in 2017, provided electricity for over 30,000 low income earners. Its PAYG model has helped consumers in the underserved places to manage their electricity bill, and it is winning the interest of more people.

The $3.3 million deal came from Platform Investment Partners (PIP), Ruby Rock Investment and former investors LBOS.

Yellow will use the funding to also expand its operation teams, and scale its off-grid energy offering. It seeks to broaden its digital distribution platform offers in consumer items and financial services.

The investors, PIP said Yellow’s combination of strong management with unique technology made them attractive investment partners.

“Platform growth seeks to invest in businesses that combine strong management teams with unique technology. In Yellow, we feel we have found this combination and have been hugely impressed by the deployment of Yellow’s Ofeefee software to solve complex problems in Malawi and Uganda. We are proud to provide capital alongside our investment partners, Ruby Rock, in order to grow Yellow into one of Africa’s leading digital retailers,” said Michael Stannard, COO of PIP.

The African continent has been winning the attention of investors in the cleaner energy ecosystem. There has been increasing input from solar energy since the 2018’s record of 1.6% power generated from renewable energy. The African Development Bank’s Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), has also been providing finance across Sub-Saharan Africa for innovations geared toward renewable-energy-based power generation.