Most Ghanaians dont have drinking water or round the clock electricity in their homes - but almost all villages and communities have a football pitch and a ball. The grounds may not look like much but football has become a ticket out of poverty for thousands of families here, especially if they can play abroad.

Five hundred Ghanaians play for clubs abroad. Their most well-known home-grown star Michael Essien once played for French clubs Bastia and Lyon.

One of the first European clubs to see the future in Africa is Dutch club Feyenoord. Nearly 10 years ago it set up this academy near the capital Accra. Its mission to find the best football youngsters in the region.

Just 70 kids have gone through this academy. Most arrive at the age of 12 and spend five years here where they also get an education and qualifications as a backup in case they don't make it in football.

Today they are being taught French - while next door around a dozen computers with internet connection are available too. It's the kind of opportunity most kids in this developing country will never get.

But this is not a charity. Karel Brokken who once played professionally in France and Belgium runs the Feyenoord football academy. He says, " It is about business, yes and no. You try to form players for your own team in Holland. the mother team. But if you come to Ghana or Africa with the idea of looking for players as quickly as possible you are never going to succeed. I always tell our players: try to do your work well, play well, learn well, and then the money will come. If you are good it will come."

Feyenoord won the UEFA cup back in 2002 but since then the club has hit rock-bottom. It is struggling to avoid relegation this season and it is putting pressure on the academy to come up with new stars to save the team back in Rotterdam.

The players are motivated:  they know that just by being here they are being groomed for a shot at the big time. And they are not lacking in confidence.

Fifteen-year-old Suleamb says: "I want to play for Feyenoord Rotterdam and, if not, any club in Europe."

Another, Adam, is not shy: "My football ambition is to become one of the best strikers in the world and become the top scorer in the world."

In fact delegations from major European clubs have come out to this football outpost to see how it works and how to copy it.

They are under pressure to avoid dodgy agents who bring kids over with false promises on a freelance basis and who often leave them stranded on the streets of European capitals.

One who knows is Anthony Baffoe. From Ghana, he was one of the first African players in the German Bundesliga. He has just set up a footballers union in Ghana to protect the next wave of players that country.

"On a lot of occasions players are being taken abroad, having not even read the contract properly. The contract is in a totally different language and in our interest as former players, retired players, we have to protect our young lads who are going abroad. A lot of people are doing tricky things with young players who are innocent."

The first graduates of this academy are now getting their chance to show off their skills in Rotterdam and elsewhere. The coach says he believes five are ready for the big time. One more [Ghanian player Michael] Essien amongst this lot will make this African investment very lucrative indeed.