DAKAR, Senegal, March 15, 2022/ — The Basketball Africa League (BAL) (www.NBA.com/theBAL) and the Attorney General Alliance – through its Africa Alliance Partnership (AGA-Africa) that seeks to establish and foster robust relationships with justice and law enforcement agencies and officials throughout Africa – today announced a partnership that makes AGA an Associate Partner of the first BAL Youth Summit and first BAL Innovation Summit.
The first BAL Youth Summit, which took place yesterday in Dakar, Senegal, brought together African youth leaders, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, influencers and more than 400 youth from Senegal and other African countries to discuss the role that sports and entertainment play in inspiring, empowering and elevating youth across the continent.
The first BAL Innovation Summit, which will take place in Kigali, Rwanda during the BAL Playoffs in late May, will bring together African business leaders to discuss and celebrate African innovation in the creative industries sector.
As part of the partnership, the BAL and AGA will also collaborate to organize workshops and seminars to provide training and development opportunities for young people and other stakeholders in Africa, including a gender equality workshop for BAL teams this month in Dakar.
“We are pleased to partner with AGA to host our first youth and innovation summits during the 2022 BAL season,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall. “AGA shares our commitment to inspiring and empowering Africa’s youth. We look forward to working together to use the transformative power of basketball to provide learning and development opportunities for young people across the continent.”
“This is a timely partnership that supports an urgent need to rally all powerful platforms and people to advocate against gender-based violence and promote gender equality,” said AGA Executive Director Karen White. “The data pointing to one in every three women being abused in their lifetime needs to change, and at AGA we believe advocacy is an efficient tool and young people if empowered are the best change agents in our communities. AGA shares similar values with the BAL and is excited to embark on this meaningful partnership.”
AGA joins the BAL’s roster of world-class marketing partners, which include Foundational Partners New Fortress Energy (NFE), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), NIKE, Jordan Brand and Wilson, and official partners Air Senegal, Destination Senegal, Flutterwave and Hennessy.
The 2022 BAL season, which is underway now at the Dakar Arena, will feature a total of 38 games taking place in Dakar; Cairo; and Kigali, Rwanda over the next three months. The BAL is reaching fans in 215 countries and territories in 14 languages through free-to-air and paid TV broadcast partnerships with Canal+, ESPN, NBA TV, Tencent Sports, TSN, American Forces Network (AFN) and Voice of America (VOA), and livestreaming on the NBA App, NBA.com and NBA.com/BAL.
The 12 BAL teams, which represent 12 African countries and include defending BAL Champion Zamalek (Egypt), have been divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. Each conference will play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the five other teams in its conference once. The Sahara Conference group phase tipped off March 5 at the Dakar Arena and concludes tomorrow, while the Nile Conference group phase will take place at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo from April 9-19. The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL Playoffs, which will feature a single-elimination tournament and Finals at Kigali Arena from May 21-28.
Basketball Africa League Season 2 Hype Video (https://bit.ly/3JuafaB) (Credit: BAL)
About AGA:
The Attorney General Alliance (AGA) is a bi-partisan organization based in California, United States. AGA is an alliance of Attorneys General, federal, state foreign officials, and public and private partners, with the mandate to provide a forum for its membership to build a global network cultivating knowledge and cooperation, and advocates for the rule of law and a better world for all. Over the last 20 years, AGA has expanded beyond its original designation, including all the U.S. States to Africa, Mexico, and the Middle East.
The Africa program currently collaborates with African ministries of justice, public prosecution agencies, and private and public partners to share knowledge and experience in the fight against criminal activities like human and talent trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime, gender-based violence, etc.
We currently have a presence in eight African countries: Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, and Rwanda, with plans to keep growing and expanding.
About the BAL:
The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, is a new professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa. The BAL, which is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, builds on the foundation of club competitions FIBA Regional Office Africa has organized in Africa and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside North America.
Fans can follow the BAL @theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube and register their interest in receiving more information at www.NBA.com/theBAL.
