NBA Africa, an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), has signed a partnership with Safaricom’s MPESA to launch the MPESA Jr. NBA Program.
- •The program will provide basketball development and financial literacy to thousands of youth in Kenya’s main cities.
- •In the first stages, the program will consist of four regional tournaments for youth ages 13-16 in Nairobi (Feb. 22-23), Mombasa (March 8-9), Eldoret (March 15-16) and Kisumu (March 22-23).
- •MPESA will host financial literacy workshops for the participants over the course of the program.
“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,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.
The regional tournaments will see 40 teams compete in each city, with the top 80 players being grouped into eight teams that will play games in a round-robin format. The top 16 boys and girls will then be selected to attend a top 100 camp.
“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,” said NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi.
