Industry | Sports (Basketball) |
---|---|
Founded | 2021 |
Headquarters | Block 3, Fenbridge Office Park, Randburg, 2194, , South Africa |
Parent | National Basketball Association |
NBA Africa is the African branch of the U.S.-based National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball league organization, which focuses on its business interests on the African continent. The entity was established in 2021 and co-organizes the Basketball Africa League (BAL), together with FIBA, among other activities. [1]
The National Basketball Association (NBA) had already been active on the continent, and opened its first African office in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010. [1] The league had already established a youth academy with the NBA Academy Africa, which opened in 2017, and is located in Senegal. The NBA organized exhibition games in Africa in 2015, 2017 and 2018, with African players competing in the friendly games.
The initial strategic investors included the Yinka Folawiyo Group, Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation (HFP), and Helios Investment Partners. [1] Other investors include former NBA players Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Grant Hill, among others. [1] Former U.S. president Barack Obama is a minority partner and strategic advisor for the organization. [2] The NBA valued the organisation at $1 billion in 2021. [3]
NBA Africa has since then opened offices in Nairobi, Kenya, [4]
It also invests in infrastructure projects on the continent, investing in outdoor courts as well as the construction and renovation of indoor arenas. [5] It opened it first basketball school in Giza, Egypt, in 2024. [6]
African Export–Import Bank, also referred to as Afreximbank or Banque Africaine d’Import-Export, is a pan-African supranational multilateral financial institution created in 1993 under the auspices of the African Development Bank. It was officially launched at the first general meeting of the shareholders in Abuja, Nigeria, in October 1993. It is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Afreximbank is a financial provider to African governments and private businesses in support of African and Caribbean trade.
Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard is a Franco-Gabonese self-made entrepreneur, and angel investor. A former journalist, he is the founder and chairman of APO Group.
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The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental league of Africa, replacing the FIBA Africa Basketball League. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BAL held its inaugural season one year later as planned, with the season beginning in 2021. Initially the league planned to play in six venues in six countries; however, due to the pandemic the season was held in a bio-secure bubble in Kigali, Rwanda. The season began on 16 May 2021 and ended on 30 May 2021.
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