Prime
Tanzania youth basketball players for Rwanda’s Giants of Africa event
Youth basketball players are joyous after attending a basketball clinic held recently in Dar es Salaam. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- The event is the exceptional talent set that will bring together more than 250 youths from other 15 countries apart from Tanzania. The event is also part of the celebrations of Giants of Africa’s 20th anniversary
Kigali. Tanzania’s young basketball players will feature in an inaugural Giants of Africa youth festival scheduled to take place from August 13 to 19 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Giants of Africa is a not-for-profit event dedicated to enriching the lives of African youths through sports, its co-founder Masai Ujiri, who is the vice chairman and president of the Toronto Raptors, said.
Masai said the event is the exceptional talent set that will bring together more than 250 youths from other 15 countries apart from Tanzania.
The countries are Kenya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, the DR Congo, Senegal, Somalia, Uganda, Botswana, Ghana, South Sudan, Morocco, Cameroon and Mali.
The event is also part of the celebrations of Giants of Africa’s 20th anniversary, according to Ujiri. "The Giants of Africa Festival represents a momentous milestone for our organization – we will celebrate 20 years of empowering youth and we will honour the incredible communities that have welcomed us. Through this festival, we aim to inspire and encourage youths, while acknowledging their immense potential and the collective effort to bring a positive change," said Ujiri. He added, "We are honoured to have artistes including Davido, Tiwa Savage, Diamond Platnumz and more to join us for the opening ceremony celebration and closing concert, as we believe their performances will further ignite the spirit of the festival and uplift the aspirations of the local youth in attendance."
With key themes including basketball, education, culture, and entertainment, the festival strives to unite and celebrate the next generation of leaders across Africa. Three events will be open for the public to attend: the opening ceremony celebration on August 13 and closing concert on August 19.
He said the Boys Championship Game, Girls Championship Game, and All-Star Game will be held on August 18. The event has been sponsored by Spotify, RwandaAir, Kensington Tours, Iamgold, Sport Court International, LLC, Toronto Raptors, DHL Express Canada, Visit Rwanda, sports ministry, Dani Reiss, All One Fund, Jess and Scott Lake and October’s Very Own.
He expressed his special thanks to His Excellency President Paul Kagame for his unwavering support for Giants of Africa and for graciously hosting the Festival in Rwanda.
