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US Promoters Push to Make Basketball Big in Africa

Nicolas Pinault

   PARIS - The death of American basketball star Kobe Bryant has caused
   worldwide mourning, and Africa is no exception. But along with the
   grief, there are signs of new enthusiasm for a sport that has, until
   now, not taken hold in much of the continent.

   Promoters have been trying to grow basketball's presence on the
   continent for the past 20 years. With a rising number of African
   players now in the American NBA, those promoters hope Africans will
   embrace the region's talents and efforts when the Basketball Africa
   League, or BAL, launches in March.

   Twelve African teams from Mozambique, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria, Mali,
   Cameroon and many more will compete. The rules of the game will be up
   the standard of America and the world. The aim is to be excellent-- and
   take on the best of them.

   "Ultimately we want to grow our business on the continent and the
   Basketball Africa League is a professional basketball league," said
   Amadou Galo Fall, the NBA vice president and managing director for
   Africa, and the head of BAL.
   "It is about building an industry and using basketball as an economic
   engine that is going to contribute to GDP of countries. The sports and
   entertainment industry and the creative industry in general contributes
   trillions of dollars in global GDP, and we want to make sure Africa
   starts to earn its part of this massive industry," he added.

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