{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "dateCreated": "2024-12-08T22:30:42+02:00", "datePublished": "2024-12-08T22:30:42+02:00", "dateModified": "2024-12-09T20:49:44+02:00", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22449/news/africa/nba-africas-akamanzi-on-sports-investment-returns", "headline": "NBA Africa’s Akamanzi on sports investment, returns", "description": "Many African countries are recognising the economic potential of sports and entertainment, but there is a conviction that significant investments in...", "keywords": "", "inLanguage": "en", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/22449/news/africa/nba-africas-akamanzi-on-sports-investment-returns" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/08/65948.png", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/thenewtimes/uploads/images/2024/12/08/65948.png" }, "articleBody": "Many African countries are recognising the economic potential of sports and entertainment, but there is a conviction that significant investments in talent and infrastructure are needed to fully capitalise on this opportunity. On the sidelines of the just concluded African Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco, The New Times’ Alice Kagina caught up with Clare Akamanzi, CEO of NBA Africa, to discuss about the need for perspective shift, economic potential of sports, and returns on investment in the sector. Below are excerpts. You are almost one year in at NBA Africa, how has it been? It's been a learning curve. Obviously, having come from RDB (Rwanda Development Board) was like a comfort zone since I had spent many years there. I have learnt a lot being at NBA Africa. I knew so much about BAL (Basketball Africa League) because of the partnerships we have in Rwanda but from the inside, I had so much to learn and extremely exciting and I am very energized now that I see and understand much better about how we can actually use sports to transform Africa. I see its possibility. I see it every single day, and I really can't wait to see Africans benefitting from sports and entertainment because this is the future. It’s been one year of learning, but one year of immense appreciation of how crucial sports is for the economy. What is the current landscape of investor interest in the sports sector in Africa? First of all, we are seeing sports as one of the fastest-growing sectors on the continent. In fact, the sports industry is projected to grow by 8 per cent over the next few years, significantly outpacing the continent's average GDP growth. This means there is a lot of opportunity for growth for those who invest in the sports sector. Since NBA investment in Africa, we have [opened] offices in five countries, namely South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria and Egypt. We are investing because we see there is an opportunity not only commercially but also to transform the economies of Africa using sports. We've also invested in a new league that has done four seasons already. We're now going to the fifth season of the BAL. And we've seen it grow. When we started four years ago, it was during COVID. From the first season of Basketball Africa League which took place in a bubble because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the second season in BK Arena had 45,000 people that came to watch the game and the following year, we had 70,000 people, last season, we had about 120,000 people coming to watch the games in-person. The same increase is noticed on our digital platforms; we have about one billion engagements throughout all our social media platforms. The growth is real in terms of BAL but the impact is beyond. If you look at Rwanda, 15 per cent of the revenues from tourism is coming from events, and sports events are a critical part of them contributing directly to bringing millions of dollars to the country. We are seeing more and more investors in teams like Tigers in Rwanda and Nairobi City Thunder which became the first Kenyan team to qualify for BAL because of the investments raised that enabled them to get good players. The investment landscape is growing because companies are seeing opportunities to support teams through sponsorship or equity. The likes of Inyange, RSSB, Summa, and others. For me, all of this shows that we are only scratching the surface because the opportunity is really large and NBA is committed to unlock that. In October, you announced the construction of 100 outdoor courts in Kenya. How do you plan to expand these kinds of facilities across the continent? NBA has announced that we'll build 1,000 courts in Africa. 100 of those will be in Kenya, but the rest will be distributed among 11 countries, including Rwanda. This means increase of access to the basketball game with more kids playing, and we have seen African governments having similar initiatives of investing in courts to breed talent in several countries. Once they have that kind of access at a grassroots level, we begin to give them other opportunities such as participating in Basketball Without Boarder camps, where we bring talent, train them, and put out good talents taken to play professionally. We also have an NBA academy in Senegal where the best identified on the continent are taken. This year, we have our first prospect from the academy drafted into the NBA. NBA Africa is an investment valued at $1 billion, how are the financial returns and how do you get to create partnerships? The more games we have, the more seasons we have, the more funds we have, and as our fans increase, it gives us an opportunity to monetize the sport. So, the more fans, the more the sponsorship, because sponsors want to see how many people can watch their products. Same thing with the media where sports make money by selling broadcasting rights to broadcasters to show the game. We see all of that increasing, there is more media, more sponsorship, and more merchandise. For me, sports and basketball in particular is a story of growth and that demonstrates return. Of course, we are not here to make profit very quickly, NBA is very aware that this is a long-term investment and we know we are going to be here for decades. We are not in a hurry to make money because we are not leaving. The important thing is growth. What challenges are sports development efforts facing in Africa? The challenges are there but the good thing is that we see them improving. One of them is how we perceive new sports, with the perception of sports as a recreation or physical education, more of a by-the-way, yet there is huge economic opportunity for people. Many countries rely on tourism for their economies, sports is as important as tourism in terms of how it can transform an economy and the talent that it has. The second one is even though we see more infrastructure coming up, they're not enough. We need an arena in all the major cities of Africa, a world-class arena that can host big games. We need to see more courts in all schools and communities. Additionally, to consume sports, you need infrastructure like affordable internet and access to smart gadgets. For me, those are the things that will allow sports to grow even more. But this also goes with the increase of disposable income as economies continue to grow so that people can also consume sports and entertainment. You participated in the Africa Investment Forum. Are there some projects that NBA Africa is seeking to make investments deals for? No, our deals are constant in terms of investment sports, sponsoring sports, and investing in teams, and this means that all the things that are discussed here, infrastructure, electricity, and energy are relevant to us. All those provide a platform because you can't watch a game without electricity, internet or good infrastructure. That's why we are here to engage with financiers and leaders, and to preach the gospel of sports being a huge economic opportunity. What advice would you give to an entrepreneur or investor looking to venture into sports investments? Take time to understand sports. Take time to see the opportunity, learn from countries that have made sports such a big opportunity and then go into it, invest, get to know the details. Once you do, there's no turning back because sports is only going to grow. Africa is a youthful continent with an average age of 19. The future is here because this is where the consumer of sports is going to be for the next 20 to 30 years. From an NBA Africa perspective, do you see any efforts towards establishing a continental women’s league? We invest a lot in women and we have programmes like BAL4Her and our clinics are 50-50 gender inclusive but for a women’s league, it is something that we will explore down the road, but for the moment, we started with BAL and we need it to grow and be sustained. Any parting shot? We are coming back to Kigali for our conference in May, though not the finals. As usual, we want to see BAL paint the whole city of Kigali red because that's what we do. The city is so lit, and we see BAL as a part of that. Other cities we will be playing in are Morocco, Senegal, and South Africa. Watch the games on apps, and on TV but also come and watch the games in the arena.", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Kagina" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/", "sameAs": ["https://www.facebook.com/TheNewTimesRwanda/","https://twitter.com/NewTimesRwanda","https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuZbZj6DF9zWXpdZVceDZkg"], "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "/theme_newtimes/images/logo.png", "width": 270, "height": 57 } }, "copyrightHolder": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "The New Times", "url": "https://www.newtimes.co.rw/" } }

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Not a lot went right for the Minnesota Twins last season. The lack of spending started the year on a sour note, and the implosion down the stretch put an ugly bow on it all. If you’re looking for silver linings though, the future is as bright as ever. Farm system more than just Minnesota Twins graduations Rocco Baldelli’s team went through a myriad of different injuries last season. The lack of consistent stars remaining on the field meant putting together a lineup card changed on a daily basis. That also brought plenty of rookie debuts along the way. Fans saw Brooks Lee, David Festa, Zebby Matthews, and others all take the field at Target Field for the first time. Despite graduating multiple projects from their farm system, the group is still well stocked. MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra called the group one of the most improved across baseball. “Despite an early hamstring strain, 2023 fifth overall pick Walker Jenkins solidified his place as one of the game’s best hitting prospects with his climb to Double-A Wichita, and he gives the Twins a potential superstar in the making at the top of the pyramid. Below him, Luke Keaschall , David Festa and Zebby Matthews (the latter two have since graduated) all pushed their way onto the Top 100 with breakout seasons. Marco Raya ‘s career-high 97 2/3 innings certainly helped the top of the pitching group as it stands now. At the time of our midseason farm system rankings, Minnesota boasted six Top 100 talents and placed second. The graduations will probably cause them to slip, but there’s no ignoring Jenkins up top alongside the toolsy Emmanuel Rodriguez .” There’s a pretty solid chance that Walker Jenkins winds up being baseball’s top prospect before making his big league debut. He made it to Double-A last season and played in 82 games across all levels . His .282/.394/.439 slash line was impressive and the six home runs with 17 steals showed off the power and speed combination. Walker Jenkins last game of the season was his best game at Double-A, recording his first XBH and RBI 2-for-5 2B (110 mph) RBI R The 19-year-old started the season at Low-A and is currently ranked the No. 2 prospect in MLB by @MLBPipeline #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/ZzcbvHA8Ek Emmanuel Rodriguez could be the first prospect called upon by Minnesota with questions in the corners. He hit .280 with a 1.026 OPS and blasted nine home runs in 47 games . It’s too bad he isn’t right-handed from a roster construction standpoint, but even as a left the Twins are already considering his timeline. It isn’t just the best of the system that is notable for Minnesota either. Luke Keaschall went from top-10 depth to top-100 talent. Kyle DeBarge is a notable name from the 2024 draft and arms like C.J. Culpepper and Cory Lewis being around 15th in the organization is crazy. C.J. Culpepper ( @Twins ' No. 8 prospect) ties his career high with eight strikeouts through six perfect innings for the High-A @CRKernels . pic.twitter.com/9WTsOBjqeA There’s no reason to believe that Minnesota will avoid injuries this season. Last year they used 21 position players and 32 pitchers toed the rubber. That means utilizing the farm system will again be a must, especially considering a lack of free agent spending. It’s great to have a unit that is truly an asset. This article first appeared on Minnesota Sports Fan and was syndicated with permission.See the 4,800+ rejected designs for Illinois' new state flag

Giants' Malik Nabers Refuses to Answer Question on New York Tanking For No. 1 PickBAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks, countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds to support poor countries in the face of climate change. It’s a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction. World Resources Institute president and CEO Ani Dasgupta called it “an important down payment toward a safer, more equitable future,” but added that the poorest and most vulnerable nations are “rightfully disappointed that wealthier countries didn’t put more money on the table when billions of people’s lives are at stake.” The summit was supposed to end on Friday evening but negotiations spiraled on through early Sunday. With countries on opposite ends of a massive chasm, tensions ran high as delegations tried to close the gap in expectations. Here’s how they got there: What was the finance deal agreed at climate talks? Rich countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035. It’s not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, and that experts said was needed. But some delegations said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money flows in the future. The text included a call for all parties to work together using “all public and private sources” to get closer to the $1.3 trillion per year goal by 2035. That means also pushing for And it means, hopefully, that companies and private investors will follow suit on channeling cash toward climate action. The agreement is also a critical step toward helping countries on the receiving end create more ambitious targets to limit or cut emissions of heat-trapping gases that are due early next year. It’s part of the plan to keep cutting pollution with new targets every five years, which the world agreed to at the U.N. talks in Paris in 2015. The Paris agreement set the system of regular ratcheting up climate fighting ambition as away to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The world is already at 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) and carbon emissions keep rising. What will the money be spent on? The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance. The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing world’s long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale. Communities hard-hit by extreme weather also want money to adapt and prepare for events like floods, typhoons and fires. Funds could go toward improving farming practices to make them more resilient to weather extremes, to building houses differently with storms in mind, to helping people move from the hardest-hit areas and to help leaders improve emergency plans and aid in the wake of disasters. The Philippines, for example, has been hammered , bringing to millions of people howling wind, massive storm surges and catastrophic damage to residences, infrastructure and farmland. “Family farmers need to be financed,” said Esther Penunia of the Asian Farmers Association. She described how many have already had to deal with millions of dollars of storm damage, some of which includes trees that won’t again bear fruit for months or years, or animals that die, wiping out a main source of income. “If you think of a rice farmer who depends on his or her one hectare farm, rice land, ducks, chickens, vegetables, and it was inundated, there was nothing to harvest,” she said. Why was it so hard to get a deal? Election results around the world that herald a change in climate leadership, a few key players with motive to stall the talks and a disorganized host country all led to a final crunch that left few happy with a flawed compromise. The ending of COP29 is “reflective of the harder geopolitical terrain the world finds itself in,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society. He cited Trump’s recent victory in the US — with his promises to pull the country out of the Paris Agreement — as one reason why the relationship between China and the EU will be more consequential for global climate politics moving forward. Developing nations also faced some difficulties agreeing in the final hours, with one Latin American delegation member saying that their group didn’t feel properly consulted when small island states had last-minute meetings to try to break through to a deal. Negotiators from across the developing world took different tacks on the deal until they finally agreed to compromise. Meanwhile, activists ramped up the pressure: many urged negotiators to stay strong and asserted that no deal would be better than a bad deal. But ultimately the desire for a deal won out. Some also pointed to the host country as a reason for the struggle. Mohamed Adow, director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa, said Friday that “this COP presidency is one of the worst in recent memory,” calling it “one of the most poorly led and chaotic COP meetings ever.” The presidency said in a statement, “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator. We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.” Shuo retains hope that the opportunities offered by a green economy “make inaction self-defeating” for countries around the world, regardless of their stance on the decision. But it remains to be seen whether the UN talks can deliver more ambition next year. In the meantime, “this COP process needs to recover from Baku,” Shuo said. ___ Associated Press reporters Seth Borenstein and Sibi Arasu contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at . Melina Walling, The Associated PressOlivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film 'Romeo and Juliet,' dies at 73