DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 29, 2022/ — The President of the Basketball Africa League (www.theBAL.com) was at the ongoing Dubai Expo which ends on March 31, 2022. Hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates since October 1, 2021, the Expo was originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of the Expo is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. The Expo also has three subthemes: opportunity, mobility, and sustainability.
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BAL President at Dubai Expo 2022
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During the rich and instructive visit, the BAL President spent hours visiting futuristic projects, connecting with stakeholders on projects aimed at co-constructing the continent. The BAL President also visited the African Union (AU) pavilion, the Senegal exhibition stand, and met with a Barbadian politician and attorney who is the current Prime Minister of Barbados and leader of the Barbados Labor Party (BLP), Mia Mottley. Mottley is the eighth person to hold the position of prime minister in Barbados and the first woman to hold either position.
Amadou Gallo Fall described Prime Minister Mottley in a tweet https://bit.ly/3NuJyVh as a great leader, humanitarian, global citizen, and a champion of Sport as a tool for youth empowerment and an economic growth engine. The pair discussed opportunities for youth development, especially for women and girls, the Barbados Cricket Development Program, and the BAL which has the ambition to become one of the best professional leagues in the world.
At the African Union (AU) stand, the objective was to learn more about the AU’s Agenda 2063, and the many projects and ideas in the pipeline.
Quizzed on the rationale of the visit, the BAL President had this to say: “let’s endeavor to create the Africa we want by executing on the big ideas and bringing Africa’s youth and community development focused projects to fruition. Sport and the creative industries are a conduit towards meeting this ambition as we continue to INSPIRE, EMPOWER and ELEVATE African youth”.
Amadou’s visit was an opportunity to learn first-hand about the AU’s 2063 agenda. “The BAL can serve as a platform to promote and bring to life this agenda, through hosting of BAL games in different iconic African cities, pushing the movement of persons, goods, and services, boosting tourism, spurring infrastructure development. It is all about leveraging the convening and transformative power of sport, as an economic growth engine”, added Fall.
Key objectives of the 2063 agenda like the African Passport, African Youth, and Women empowerment are two of the focus areas where the BAL will serve as an enabler in the next decade.
Exploring the Senegal exhibition, the BAL President had a great exchange with authorities of the Ministry of Arts and Crafts and the Senegalese Exportation Promotion Agency (ASEPEX). Great exchanges on how to valorize the local industry. This visit was in line with the objective of the BAL which is pushing to create an ecosystem around tourism, arts, and culture through the transformative power of sports. With Senegal being a host market for BAL season 2 and the headquarters of the BAL, the pavilion offered a preview of the exciting future ahead to a country focused on infrastructure and tourism growth, rich in history and tradition.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) kicked off its historic inaugural season from May 16-30, 2021, at the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, with 12 teams coming from 12 African countries.
For this second expanded season currently underway, the 12 teams are divided into two conferences: the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. The group phase of the Sahara conference (March 5 – 15) just ended in Dakar.
The second phase continues at the Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo (April 9 – 19). The top four teams from each conference will qualify for the BAL finals, which will consist of a knockout tournament and the final at Kigali, Rwanda from May 21-28.
The 2022 BAL season will reach large audiences in more than 215 countries and territories. Fans can register for tickets and more information at NBA.com/BAL
Source: Press Release
Basketball Africa League (BAL)
