NEW YORK — NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi says a shift toward permanent franchises in the Basketball Africa League can unlock new investment, expand sports-sector jobs and strengthen the continent’s homegrown talent pipeline in the years ahead. The push, backed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, would pair team sales with arena development and a broader ecosystem designed to keep value — and opportunity — closer to home, Dec. 14, 2025.
NBA Africa’s franchise play: permanent teams, bigger capital
The centerpiece is franchising. Silver said the NBA will soon begin selling franchises for its Africa league and is targeting 12 new teams, with an opportunity for those clubs to build home arenas — a move aimed at turning periodic tournaments into enduring local businesses, according to a Bloomberg report on the franchise plan.
For NBA Africa, the logic is straightforward: permanent teams can produce steadier revenue streams, clearer sponsorship packages and deeper fan identity than a rotating slate of club entrants. Investors, meanwhile, get more than a jersey logo moment — they get a year-round platform that can drive events, retail, media production, tech services and tourism around game nights.
Akamanzi has framed the strategy as an economic development play first and a basketball play second. “The goal is to catalyze economic development using sports,” she said in an interview aired by Bloomberg Next Africa. In that same conversation, she pointed to the jobs orbiting a modern league — marketing, data, production, transportation, security and hospitality — arguing that a thriving pro ecosystem can employ far more people than those on the court.
Silver has also tied the momentum to demographics, citing a UN estimate that a huge share of the world’s young people will live in Africa in the coming decades — the kind of long-term demand signal that makes arena infrastructure and franchise valuations easier to sell.
NBA Africa’s talent pipeline: keeping careers closer to home
The franchising pitch is also about retention. NBA Africa wants a stronger pro pathway that doesn’t require immediate relocation to be credible — giving elite prospects more reasons to train, play, earn and build visibility on the continent before (or even without) making the jump abroad.
Akamanzi stepped into the top job with a mandate that stretches beyond the BAL. The NBA said when it appointed her that she would oversee business and basketball development efforts across Africa — including grassroots programming, media distribution, corporate partnerships and social impact initiatives — according to the NBA’s announcement naming her CEO.
Mark Tatum, the NBA’s deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, said the league believes NBA Africa and the BAL are positioned for continued growth and that the work ahead can “transform economies, communities and lives across the continent.” For Akamanzi, that means turning proof-of-concept momentum into durable systems: better training environments, stronger coaching networks, more local sports-business careers and a pro product that feels rooted in cities — not just hosted by them.
NBA Africa’s long runway: the plan has been years in the making
Today’s franchise push builds on a long runway. When the BAL was first being introduced, NBA executives told Reuters in 2019 the league would invest “millions” and be hands-on in operations — an early signal that the NBA viewed Africa as more than an exhibition market. Two years later, the NBA formalized its footprint by creating a standalone Africa entity and partnering with strategic investors, as detailed in an NBA.com release from 2021.
Now comes the hardest part: execution. If NBA Africa can convert franchise interest into real ownership groups, workable arena projects and steady local operations, the payoff won’t just be highlight reels. It will be durable sports infrastructure, more year-round jobs and a clearer, more accessible runway for the next generation of African basketball talent.
