Ruto Signs MOU Deal With NBA

The deal was signed between Sports Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ababu Namwamba and NBA Africa chief executive Victor Williams during a meeting held in New York.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Sep 22, 2023 - 11:49 Updated: Sep 22, 2023 - 11:54
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Ruto Signs MOU Deal With NBA
President William Ruto (right) poses for a photo with a National Basketball Association (NBA) official and the NBA trophy in New York, USA on September 21, 2023. /PCS

President William Ruto on Thursday, September 21 announced that Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) deal with the United States (US)-based National Basketball Association (NBA) which will see it open an office in Nairobi.

The deal was signed between Sports Cabinet Secretary (CS) Ababu Namwamba and NBA Africa chief executive Victor Williams during a meeting held in New York.

The Head of State witnessed the signing of the deal on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which will see Kenya join Rwanda in African countries that have signed deals with NBA.

Sports CS Ababu Namwamba (second right) and President William Ruto (far right) during the signing of an MOU deal with NBA on September 21, 2023. /PCS

"The signing of an agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA) will facilitate the development of basketball infrastructure in Kenya, with the capacity to host top-level competitions," Ruto stated.

NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams, Vice Chairman and President Toronto Raptors Masai Ujiri, Basketball Africa League President Amadou Fall and Former NBA All-Star Luol Deng were also present during the signing of the MOU.

Under the deal, the NBA will work with community-based organisations and learning institutions to promote sports through facilitating school and grassroots talent development under the Ministry of Sports’s Talanta Hela Initiative.

NBA will also train coaches, develop basketball courts and host competitions.

In its deal with Rwanda, the Association early this year donated an indoor basketball court to help develop the sport in the East African country, which also became Africa's first country to host a Basketball Africa League tournament in 2021.

The NBA deal represents the first major sporting deal the country has signed since Ruto took office. 

NBA is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada).

It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.

The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June.

As of 2020, NBA players are the world's best-paid athletes by average annual salary per player.

Sports CS Ababu Namwamba (second far right), President William Ruto (right) and Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja (close right) during the signing of an MOU deal with NBA on September 21, 2023. /PCS