NBA deal good for Kenya
What you need to know:
- The partnership will now feature an NBA magazine and a weekly NBA Lifestyle program that will be localised.
- The NBA intends to construct 1,000 courts in Africa in the next 10 years, and 100 of them will be in Kenya.
The country’s basketball scene witnessed a new dawn this week when Nation Media Group (NMG) and Safaricom signed crucial partnerships with the National Basketball Association (NBA), a professional basketball league from the United States of America.
If the laid down programmes are implemented by both parties in conjunction with stakeholders, who include the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) and learning institutions, then the country is bound to witness enormous growth in the game in the next decade.
NMG Interim Chief Executive Officer, Richard Tobiko, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, NBA Africa CEO, Clare Akamanzi and Head of Operations NBA Kenya, Michael Finley on Tuesday renewed partnership that started in 2021 for two more years.
Besides breaking the boarders to Uganda for the first time, the partnership that has one premium match being aired live on NTV per weekend, will now feature an NBA magazine and a weekly NBA Lifestyle program that will be localised.
Modern indoor arena
On Wednesday, NBA and Safaricom Chief Financial Service, Esther Waititu, announced the formation of regional under-16 tournaments scheduled to start in January featuring 10,000 youth in four regions - Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Kisumu.
What is more exciting is that NBA intends to construct 1,000 courts in Africa in the next 10 years, and 100 of them will be in Kenya.
These programs can only be successful if the central government, county governments, the ministry of sport and KBF work together to provide a conducive atmosphere.
In 2018, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) president, David Haggerty visited Kenya to oversee the groundbreaking for the construction of the Tennis Kenya Centre at Kasarani. The project that would have seen several tennis courts built at Kasarani went quiet with no interest from the government.
It's embarrassing that the country doesn't have a modern indoor arena for such indoor games like basketball. The efforts by NMG, NBA and Safaricom shouldn't be in vain.
