The President of the Republic of Rwanda, H.E Paul Kagame officiated the unveiling of the refurbished basketball court at Club Rafiki in the Nyamirambo sector as part of Giants of Africa’s initiative to build 100 Basketball courts in Africa.
Saturday, 21st May 2022, a business sports forum ‘moving sports forward forum’ co-hosted by Masai Ujiri’s Giants of Africa with Basketball Africa League, and invite other sports stakeholders such as sports administrators, athletes, businesses and government leaders at Kigali Marriott Hotel, gathered to discuss the role of sports infrastructure in the development of African youth. Thereafter, the giants of Africa launched Club Rafiki’s Basketball Court as their 13th Basketball facility across the continent since 2021 when Masai Ujiri began a 100-court investment in the infrastructure of Basketball throughout Africa.
Kicking off the event at Club Rafiki, which was a mixture of NBA Africa & GOA Youth Basketball clinic and contemporary dances, Madam Stephanie Alamba, Club Rafiki administrator embraced the partnership between good governance and Basketball initiatives that changes the lives of the youth community around Club Rafiki.
The ceremony moderated by Africa Scouting Manager at Toronto Raptors, also included the speeches from NBA Africa CEO, Victor Williams, BAL President, Amadou Gallo, and Minister of Sports, Aurore Mimosa Munyangaju.
In his words, the project initiator, Masai Ujiri, President of Toronto Raptors and Co-Founder of Giants of Africa who is steadfast demonstrated that the base for shaping the future of the African sports industry is by investing in infrastructure, acknowledged the Nyamirambo community for having Club Rafiki, the fantastic place for Sports history.
“Our investments have the power to transform generations to come, and sports infrastructure is the foundation,” said Ujiri during the unveiling ceremony.
He added; “It fosters togetherness and can empower our youth everywhere just like the young men and women we see here at Club Rafiki. My hope is that we can come together, across all sectors, united as one continent in a shared vision for the future of sports.”
He continued “A big big thank you to the whole community here because this place has an incredible history in sports”
In his remark to close the event, The special guest, H.E President Paul Kagame expressed his emotional state and emphasized the stature of developing the sports infrastructure in Africa. “My feeling is that of pride and happiness that we have done something and it has materialized,” he said. “It is going to have an impact on our young people and the development of talent on our continent.”
Giants of Africa is a non-profit organization with the goal of changing the lives of countless boys and girls on the African continent through the power of Sport. It was founded in 2003 by Masai Ujiri. Since then, It has used sport to help empower youth to dream big, hosting basketball camps and clinics for boys and girls in 16 countries across the continent.
In 2021, Giants of Africa launched the 100-court initiative and unveiled basketball facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast and now in 2022, Club Rafiki court is unveiled.
Club Rafiki is considered the root of basketball in Rwanda mainly because of the talents who have risen and maximized their potential on the court through Rafiki based club, Espoir Basketball Club.
