NBA Africa and Kenyan telco Safaricom have launched the M-PESA Jr. NBA programme that will provide basketball development and financial literacy programming to more than 10,000 boys and girls in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu cities, marking the league’s most expansive youth development programme in East Africa to date.
The first year of the M-PESA Jr. NBA programme, which tipped off with a clinic for more than 100 local coaches at SABIS International School in Nairobi, will consist of four regional tournaments for youth ages 13-16 in Nairobi (February 22-23), Mombasa (March 8-9), Eldoret (March 15-16) and Kisumu (March 22-23).
In each city, 20 boys’ and 20 girls’ teams will participate in skills development sessions and competitive games. The top 80 players will then be grouped into four boys’ teams and four girls’ teams that will play games in a round-robin format. The top 16 boys and girls from each city will be selected to attend an elite top 100 camp at Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa in April.
In addition to the basketball development programming, M-PESA, Safaricom’s innovative mobile payment platform, will host financial literacy workshops for the participating youth, empowering them to develop healthy financial habits.
“Tipping off our multiyear collaboration with Safaricom is an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to make basketball more accessible to Kenyan boys and girls,” NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi said. “We look forward to positively impacting youth and coaches across the country through basketball development and life-skills programming.”
“Our collaboration with NBA Africa could not have come at a more opportune moment, as Safaricom’s M-PESA will celebrate its 18th anniversary this March, marking a significant milestone in our journey,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.
“Through M-PESA Go, this collaboration transcends beyond basketball. It is driven by a shared vision to create a lasting impact, not only in sports but also in the broader context of youth empowerment. We are committed to nurturing potential, building character, and equipping the next generation with the tools necessary for success. We firmly believe that the association between M-PESA Go and the Jr. NBA program can pave the way for growth and financial health, enabling young athletes to develop their skills and seize opportunities at the next level.”
NBA Africa is an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.
NBA Africa conducts the league’s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and has opened subsidiary offices in Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Johannesburg, South Africa; Lagos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya.
The league’s efforts on the continent have focused on increasing access to basketball and the NBA through youth and elite development, social responsibility, media distribution, corporate partnerships, NBA Africa Games, NBA Stores, the BAL, and more.
NBA games and programming are available in all 54 African countries, and the NBA has hosted three sold-out exhibition games on the continent since 2015. The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that will tip off its fifth season in April 2025.
Safaricom, meanwhile, is the leading telecommunication company in East Africa. Its purpose is to transform lives by connecting people to people, people to opportunities, and people to information. It keeps over 45.9 million customers connected and plays a critical role in the society, supporting over one million jobs both directly and indirectly while its total economic value was estimated at KES393 billion ($3.1 billion) for the 12 months through March 2022.
