NAIROBI, Kenya, May 28, 2024/APO Group/ —
NBA Africa (www.NBA.com) and Safaricom, the leading telecommunication company in East Africa, today announced a multiyear youth basketball development collaboration in Kenya that will reach more than 10,000 youth this year through regional and national Jr. NBA tournaments, coaching clinics, and an elite camp for top Kenyan prospects. The collaboration marks the league’s most expansive youth development programming in East Africa to date and makes Safaricom an Official Partner of the Jr. NBA in Kenya.
Through the collaboration, NBA Africa and Safaricom will host four regional Jr. NBA tournaments across Kenya for boys and girls ages 16 and under, culminating with a 16-team national tournament later this year. The collaboration will also include Jr. NBA Fit clinics, life-skills seminars, coaching capacity building, and an elite basketball development camp for 100 of the top high-school-age players from across the country. Top prospects from the elite camp will have the opportunity to participate in NBA Africa’s other elite development initiatives on the continent.
“Our collaboration with Safaricom builds on the NBA’s ongoing efforts to grow basketball in Kenya and across the continent of Africa,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “We look forward to creating more opportunities for young people to engage in physical activity and learn the values inherent in sport.”
“For over two decades, we have supported Kenyan passion points including sports such as football, rugby and golf,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. “We have created numerous opportunities for our youth, providing them with a platform through which they can launch their sports careers. We do this because we are Kenya’s biggest supporter and are led by our purpose of transforming lives. We look forward to engaging with NBA Africa as we explore how to transform the lives of our basketball loving youth across the country.”
In November 2023, NBA Africa established a new subsidiary in Kenya, with an office located in Westlands, Nairobi. The NBA Kenya office supports all of the league’s business and basketball development initiatives in the country and is led by NBA Kenya Senior Director and Country Operations Lead Michael Finley. The office marks NBA Africa’s fifth office on the continent, joining Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Lagos, Nigeria.
Additional details about the Jr. NBA tournaments and elite camp will be announced at a later date.