The rise of African Basketball

Entertainment and Sports.

A match made in heaven. Nothing beats the euphoria created by the infusion of

music, dance, and art to sport. Not only is such experience desirable, the euphoric

theatricality consistently gets its attention and puts smiles on faces.

This was the blueprint Ugo Udezue, the founder of AFA Sports and the Continental

Basketball League (formerly African Basketball League) used in 2016 for its maiden

season. The Nigerian Basketball scene was on the path to growth with two

professional Basketball leagues running concurrently, leaving audiences asking for

more.

Ugo Udezue, Founder of AFA Sports & CBL

The CBL cut across various nations in Africa as teams from host nation, Nigeria,

Ivory Coast, Gabon, Senegal, and Cameroun put on a show throughout its duration.

Ugo Udezue made it clear to anyone who cared to know that African basketball will

witness sizable investments after the successful run of the league.

Sights from the Continental Basketball League (2016, 2017)

,

He was right.

Not too long after that, the NBA signed a partnership with FIBA in 2019 and The

Basketball Africa League was born. 12 Champions from 12 African countries dueling

for one title. With this league in place, teams and governing bodies have leaned

towards contributing to the advancement of the culture of the game, with the same

blueprint mentioned earlier.

The vision of creating opportunities, development and wealth in the basketball

industry while capturing the rich entertainment culture of the continent is in full blast

as organisations such as Unitel , Orange, Total, bank of Kigali and many more invest

in the sport. It will take corporate champions like these to continue to move the

needle.

The potential is endless and the only way is UP.

The Final phase of the Basketball African League 2 nd edition is scheduled to take

place from 21-28 May, 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda with 8 qualified teams playing for the chip.

Kigali Arena, Rwanda

Qualifying teams for the Playoffs of this year's Basketball Africa League