Sports and Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) have been highlighted as primary drivers of economic growth in Africa for they offer lots of opportunities for job creation, tourism, investment, infrastructure development, and the promotion of cultural heritage. By 2030, Africa is projected to account for up to 10 per cent of global creative exports, worth around $200 billion (4 per cent of the continent’s GDP), and could generate over 20 million jobs. This was highlighted during the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Innovation Summit, held in Kigali on May 21. The two-day summit, held under the theme “Shaping Africa’s Future Through Sport, Tech, and Culture”, aims to forge purpose-driven partnerships to tackle major challenges and drive the growth of sports and the CCIs in Africa, for sustainable and impactful development. The summit brought together champions from the sports industry, talented individuals, business leaders, policymakers, and investors who are among the delegates attending the BAL Nile Conference started on May 17 to 25 at BK Arena. ALSO READ: Amadou Gallo-Fall on the impact of BAL as Nile Conference tips off in Kigali Stakeholders highlighted that the “current sports market in Africa is estimated at over $12 billion and could reach over $20 billion by 2035”, whereas the global sports market is expected to reach $629.81 billion in 2028, driven by strong growth in emerging markets. As noted, the CCIs are drivers of both economic growth and cultural engagement primarily generating income through the trade and commercialization of intellectual property rights while creating new jobs in higher occupational skills, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. BAL president Amadou Gallo-Fall said that stakeholders are all motivated by the common desire to advance and showcase Africa on the global stage and use sports as a tool for economic growth. “Building infrastructure is the central pillar of our ambition to build the BAL. And quite frankly, it is also pivotal for the development of sports business investments we think can be prosperous in Africa which we believe have great talents both on and off the courts and pitches. Thus, it needs to match it with infrastructure that meets global standards and is backed by the right expertise,” he said. NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi said that “sports mean business” because “investment in sports isn’t just a dare but tapping into different economic potentials which gives job diverse talents.” “Sports is an economic priority not just for NBA Africa but also for partners we work with. When we invest in sports, we invest in an ecosystem. From the infrastructure, we’ve seen an arena, restaurants, basketball courts, hotels...all these come together to make the sports experience great. It’s bigger than what happens in the court,” Akamanzi said. ALSO READ: BAL set standards and we’re working hard to beat them--Minister Ngarambe Rwanda understood the assignment Michelle Umurungi, the Chief Investment Officer at Rwanda Development Board (RDB) pointed out that the country’s policy has been reshaped mostly in the Ministry of Sports and creative industry is embedded within Rwanda’s agenda 2050. “We’re not taking this as a cultural asset but a viable investment area that we want to pursue and that's something that inspires confidence in investors,” she noted. “As a country when we place strategic partnerships, for instance collaborating with Arsenal, the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, it’s a big segment. We’re playing a lot and we really mean business when we look at this sports industry,” she said. Umurungi highlighted that Rwanda has been hosting Tour du Rwanda, Kigali Fashion Week, BAL itself and many other sports and entertainment events. This sends the message of capacity of ambition and the government's stance that the two are not just cultural assets, she noted. “When we think about scalability, I think there’s no question about the creative industry in Africa. The demand is there; we have a population of 1.4 billion and 7 per cent is below the age of 30. There’s a rise of disposable incomes in our music, fashion, Nollywood, and Afrobeat.” “This is now a global phenomenon. Now we're trying to see that sports, arts and music is a viable path. We need to turn low talents into curators that consistently build so that we can generate revenues,” she added.
