Africa needs to change the way it views sports by moving beyond seeing it as recreation and recognising it as a major economic sector capable of driving growth, according to NBA Africa Chief Executive Officer Clare Akamanzi.
Akamanzi made the remarks at the Africa Mindset Reset Forum, held at Kigali Convention Centre on Wednesday, August 26.
Speaking about the growth of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), she said sports should be placed at the centre of development strategies across the continent, arguing that its economic impact extends far beyond athletes and competitions.
“Sports is not just talent. Sports is not just recreation. Sports is actually an economy…a big business,” she said.
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Akamanzi pointed to the BAL as an example of the opportunities that can be created when sports is developed as an industry rather than treated solely as entertainment.
According to the NBA Africa CEO, the league contributed $250 million (approximately Rwf368.4 billion) to the gross domestic product of four African countries during its first four seasons and created about 37,000 jobs across the continent.
She said the figures could grow significantly as the league expands, with the BAL estimating that it could generate about 650,000 jobs and contribute $5 billion to Africa’s GDP within a decade.
Akamanzi said the economic impact of sports extends to several sectors, including aviation, hospitality, food services, telecommunications, media and events.
“When we have 300 people that move around every time we have a basketball game in a country, the air tickets that we buy, the hotels that we consume, the restaurants, the food, the data. It’s a whole economic opportunity,” she said.
She also highlighted the wide range of careers created around athletes, including coaching, refereeing, sports medicine, physiotherapy, journalism, broadcasting, content creation, marketing and sales.
Akamanzi said this wider ecosystem demonstrates why governments and businesses should view sports as an investment opportunity.
She called on governments to move away from treating sports as merely a social programme and instead consider sports infrastructure part of broader national development infrastructure.
Sports facilities, she noted, can also host concerts, entertainment shows and other major events, generating additional economic activity.
Building the ecosystem
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Akamanzi also challenged African families to rethink how they view careers in sports, arguing that education and sports should not be treated as separate paths.
She said participation in sports can help young people develop leadership, teamwork, discipline and resilience–skills often pursued separately through formal education and leadership programmes.
She cited the story of South Sudanese basketball player Khaman Maluach as an example of what can happen when young talent is connected to the right structures.
Maluach was a 13-year-old South Sudanese refugee living in Uganda when he was discovered by a scout and tried basketball for the first time. At 14, he joined the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal and, four years later, became the 10th pick in the NBA Draft.
For Akamanzi, his journey raises a broader question: how many other talented young Africans remain undiscovered because the pathways to develop their abilities do not exist?
She said Africa’s ambition should not simply be to develop athletes who eventually leave the continent, but to build sports ecosystems that allow more of the economic value generated by that talent to remain in Africa.
“We’re not exporting talent because when you export talent, you export the value that comes with the talent,” she said.
Akamanzi urged governments, businesses, parents and young people to view sports as a strategic asset that can contribute to Africa’s economic development rather than an activity that exists on the sidelines.
“Sports does matter. Let’s think about it as a strategic asset for our development,” she said.
