African Sports Entertainment in partnership with
Wakanow Sports is set to launch the African Basketball League ABL on Wednesday
December 16th at the Boat Club in Ikoyi, Lagos. The highly anticipated corporate launch will
introduce the Lagos Islanders, Stallions and Lagos City Chiefs as the Nigerian
Clubs in the league.
Other Clubs include the Dakar Rapids from Senegal, Abidjan
Ramblers from the Ivory Coast and Izobe Basketball Club from Libreville, Gabon.
In a Statement released by the Founder and Chief
Executive Officer of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, Basketball offers significant
opportunities for job creation and socio-economic development in Africa. Ekezie
stated that, “Sports entertainment is a business that will create more jobs in
Africa and especially Nigeria with the fall of oil prices and the opportunity
for the Sports industry to contribute immensely in this area since it is an
industry mainly targeted at the youth’’.
Ekezie, who played professional Basketball in the
NBA for Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls noted that a new perspective is
needed if Africa is to take advantage of these value opportunities. “The
challenge we have had is the way we have viewed sports and the ABL’s value
proposition turns the current Basketball model in Africa on its head. We want
people to travel across Africa, spend their money in Africa and enjoy the game
of Basketball,” he noted.
The ABL will be managed by seasoned experts who have
experienced in professional Basketball management at the highest level. The Chief
Executive Officer of the league Ugo Udezue, added that “The value proposition
of the ABL is largely built around professionalism. We will run a very
professional league with franchises that are managed very professionally. The
value of a league is in the strength of its franchises and ABL will largely
manage the franchises to optimize their commercial and technical value.”
He also noted that one of the reasons the ABL has
been established was to productively channel the talent and passion Africans have
for the game. He noted, “The ABL’s management of the Professional League and
the Junior League will provide a structure for harnessing Basketball talents in
Africa. A great Basketball team is built on technical and commercial successes
and this is what the ABL intends to build in all its franchisees.”
Corporate
organisations have already started taking advantage of the opportunities
provided by the ABL. Some of the already existing partner brands include Union
Bank, Wakanow, Cornerstone Insurance, and Radisson Blu.
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