NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 6 – Six African athletes including Kenya’s Basketball Premier League winner Derrick Ogechi took center stage in Nairobi last week as part of BAL Advance: Next Play, the Basketball Africa League’s (BAL) athlete entrepreneurship program held in collaboration with Afreximbank, which supports current and former African basketball players as they build ventures beyond the game.
For the past eight weeks, 35 athletes participated in weekly entrepreneurship workshops and one-on-one coaching designed to help them develop and refine their business ideas.
From that cohort, six participants, Pol Mas (Kenya), Joan Mochiruku (Uganda), Derrick Ogechi (Kenya), James Mwangi (Kenya), Reem Moussa (Egypt) and Liam Reid (South Africa), were selected for a two-day immersion in Nairobi culminating in the Athlete Entrepreneur Showcase on September 30.
As the centerpiece of the program, the showcase provided an opportunity for each athlete to pitch their business or venture to an audience of investors, foundations, subject matter experts and leaders from across the basketball ecosystem.
The event was designed to give athletes valuable experience presenting and refining their ideas in front of an expert audience, as well as to create meaningful connections that could lead to mentorship, partnerships and future funding opportunities.
Throughout the showcase, participants received real-time feedback from industry experts, helping them sharpen their ventures and take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey.
As part of the event, the delegation also visited Hoopspire Academy and Food 4 Education in Nairobi.
According to the organizers, basketball can open many doors, but athletes need opportunities beyond the game as well.
Through BAL Advance: Next Play, they are helping players build the skills, confidence and networks to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions, and the showcase is an important step in that journey.
The six participants put in months of work refining their ideas, and last week’s showcase gave them an opportunity to learn from experienced entrepreneurs and investors, build valuable relationships and take meaningful steps toward turning their vision into reality.
Speaking at the event, NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi said the programme would help athletes refine their ideas, strengthen their businesses, and prepare for opportunities not only today but also in the future.
“At NBA Africa and BAL, we believe that athletes can play an important role in the future that we are building for our continent. Athletes bring something special; they bring quality, resilience, discipline, leadership, the ability to perform under pressure, and all those qualities are what every founder needs to build a business idea,” the NBA Africa CEO said.
Marie Laurence Archambault, the BAL Social Responsibility and Player Programme Lead, said that this year, the initiative had expanded from giving access only to former BAL players and BAL for Her female players to also include African basketball players who had played at the national-team level or in local leagues.
“The selection process was about the level of engagement and their stories. We wanted diversity; we didn’t just have people with mature businesses, but also those with ideas. For example, you saw Derick (Ogechi); he said that before the programme, everything was just in his mind, and he planned to explore it after playing basketball.”
