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<\/p>\n\n From lively street courts to packed arenas, basketball is growing in popularity across Africa \u2014 and becoming big business.\n <\/p>\n
\n In 2021, the NBA debuted the Basketball Africa League (BAL), its first professional league outside North America. Now, it is selling teams to private investors through a multimillion-dollar bidding process.\n <\/p>\n
\n NBA Africa says the BAL has contributed more than $250 million to Africa\u2019s economy since its launch and created almost 37,000 jobs. By 2034, it says that figure will grow to $5.4 billion, with more than 650,000 new jobs over the next decade.\n <\/p>\n
\n Now in its sixth season, the BAL features 12 African teams, which qualify by winning domestic leagues, playing 42 games across three cities: Rabat in Morocco, Pretoria in South Africa, and the Rwandan capital Kigali.\n <\/p>\n
\n NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi told CNN the league has been a \u201cproof of concept\u201d showing \u201cthat Africa is ready for, and that there\u2019s demand for, a sports brand, an entertainment brand that we can have on the continent at a premium level. We\u2019ve proven that there is elite talent on the continent.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Currently, all teams must qualify each season to play, but NBA Africa wants to turn them into permanent businesses that would compete in the BAL ever year.\n <\/p>\n
\n In May, the league hosted its first Investor Day, in Kigali, where around 100 prospective investors learned more about the right to permanently own and operate a team in the BAL.\n <\/p>\n
\n Investor-owned franchises, Akamanzi said, would let teams \u201creally make money\u201d through merchandising, ticketing, media rights and events \u2014 a more predictable structure that she says \u201creally unlocks the value of the league.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Franchises will be sold through a bidding process, Akamanzi said, \u201cin the tens of millions of dollars.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n NBA Africa does not publicly disclose financial information, but a 2024 Bloomberg <\/a>report that claimed the BAL had lost millions of dollars in its first seasons was disputed at the time by the NBA.\n <\/p>\n \n Among those eyeing a stake was two-time WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike. \u201cI\u2019m trying to get in. I have to,\u201d she said. \u201cBasketball has always been something that can transform lives.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBeing here in Kigali, it\u2019s cool to see the new sport renaissance happening through basketball, so that young girls like my sisters and I can actually fulfill their dreams,\u201d she added.\n <\/p>\n \n Investor interest is coming from Africa and abroad, said NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum, stressing the importance of local ownership.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe African market is so important,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cEleven of the 20 fastest-growing economies in the world, a young population \u2026 we see this as a terrific opportunity to really take basketball and make it a driver of economies.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But the league\u2019s expansion has not been without controversy. Human rights group Amnesty International has criticized<\/a> the NBA\u2019s partnership with the Rwandan government \u2014 a crucial BAL partner whose \u201cVisit Rwanda\u201d logo appears on all player jerseys. Last year, it urged the league to review the relationship considering accusations of atrocities<\/a> committed in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by the M23 armed group, widely believed to backed by Rwanda.\n <\/p>\n \n Amnesty International<\/a> said that in February 2025, Tatum responded with a letter stating that the NBA follows US State Department guidance abroad. This season, Rwandan basketball club APR, owned by the country\u2019s military, withdrew<\/a> after the US sanctioned<\/a> the Rwanda Defense Force in March.\n <\/p>\n \n For the franchise model to succeed, Africa needs infrastructure to match. In Kigali, the 10,000-seat BK Arena hosted the first four BAL finals, as well as the 2026 final.\n <\/p>\n \n Recently inaugurated next to the arena is Zaria Court, a community and hospitality hub co-founded by Masai Ujiri, president of the NBA\u2019s Dallas Mavericks and co-founder of Giants of Africa, a nonprofit using basketball to empower African youth through training camps and purpose-built courts.\n <\/p>\n \n Ujiri believes BAL must spread to fulfill its potential. \u201cIt has to be in Nairobi. It has to be in Lagos. It has to be in Abidjan, in Accra, in Johannesburg,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cIt has to get to other countries so we can create a tour, so we really commercialize and create economic value to this whole ecosystem.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From lively street courts to packed arenas, basketball is growing in popularity across Africa \u2014 and becoming big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-791352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ca-still-5.jpg\")
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