The Basketball Africa League (BAL) announced on Monday that Flutterwave is among the companies that are sponsoring it in 2021. The league was inaugurated in 2019 and the first season was slated to start on March 13, 2020.
The inaugural <span class="caps">BAL</span> season tipped off at the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, with 12 teams from across Africa competing in the new professional league. The first <span class="caps">BAL</span> Finals will be held Sunday, May 30.
Flutterwave, which was founded in 2016 and recently named among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Companies, provides innovative payment solutions to more than 290,000 businesses and has an infrastructure reach in more than 33 African countries, including Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
The partnership will leverage the BAL and Flutterwave’s shared commitment to driving economic growth across the continent through the launch of a digital campaign that will provide select African entrepreneurs and small businesses with the opportunity to travel, connect and engage with other African markets.
Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia earned their participation in the inaugural season.
The remaining six teams, which come from Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, and Rwanda, secured their participation through BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Offices across the continent in late 2019.