The state-of-the-art Kigali Arena has, effective Tuesday, May 24, rebranded to BK Arena in a mega deal that will last six years. The new development is a result of the Rwf7 billion naming rights agreement signed between Bank of Kigali and QA Solutions, the firm that is managing the facility. Announcing the deal, BK Chief Executive Officer Diane Karusisi, said the lender is looking forward to making the best of the naming rights deal to grow its brand to a wider audience, especially the youth who gather at the facility for various sporting events and entertainment activities. “We have not seen many local events happening here. With this partnership, we are telling QA ‘please bring more local events at BK Arena’, and we believe this place is going to be very busy with high traffic. The more we see high traffic, the more our brand will be visible and we hope to have more clients buying our services,” Karusisi said. This is the first of its kind naming rights deal with such an amount, a deal that QA Solutions Director Kyle Schofield says will help the management to grow the venue to becoming a continental hub for sports and entertainment over the next few years. “It really comes out as a dream, a dream of revolutionizing our industry by achieving our goal of becoming the hub for sports and entertainment on the entire continent. We are here on the basis of partnerships with institutions coming together,” he said. “It’s a venue where we are going to get to a point where we are global players. All industries have achieved it; the partnerships have been established…what we are doing today is honoring partnerships, and we are witnessing history,” he added. The naming rights agreement allows Bank of Kigali the right to display its products across the venue, be it outside and inside during different sports and entertainment events held at the facility for the next six years.
