“Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator” Will Provide Top African Startup Companies in the Sports and Creative Industries with Funding and Mentorship Across Event Management and Ticketing, Youth Development, AI and Digital Marketing; ALX to Operate Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator and Oversee Selection Process; Startups Can Apply to Participate at TripleDoubleAccelerator.NBA.com.

In support of President Biden’s Digital Transformation with Africa Initiative and building on the U.S. Department of Commerce-wide Africa strategy, NBA Africa today announced the launch of “Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator,” a startup accelerator based on the continent focused on early-stage African startup companies.

Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator will support Africa’s tech ecosystem and the next generation of African tech entrepreneurs by providing them with access to mentorship and capital that will help drive growth in the sports and creative industries.

Operated by ALX Ventures, a leading technology incubator that provides the continent’s tech leaders with access to the skills and tools to launch and scale their startups, Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator is open to early-stage startups in Africa that develop solutions in event management and ticketing, youth development, AI, and digital marketing in the sports and creative industries.  Startups can apply to participate at TripleDoubleAccelerator.NBA.com through Friday, May 31, after which the submissions will be narrowed down to the top 10.

The 10 selected startups will then be paired with mentors comprised of NBA Africa and ALX leadership, and other corporate stakeholders, who will provide guidance to the companies with a focus on product development, business growth and go-to-market strategy.  In September, NBA Africa will hold a Demo Day in New York City that will coincide with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).  Participating companies will pitch their products to a panel comprised of top industry leaders from the U.S., Africa, and around the world.  The panel will then determine the four winning companies, which will be awarded financial support, mentorship, and the opportunity to work with NBA Africa and the Basketball Africa League (BAL) on their current and future initiatives on the continent. 

The announcement was made today by NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi, who was joined by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Enoh T. Ebong at the American Chamber of Commerce’s Business Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

“We are thrilled to launch an accelerator program based on the continent and focused on early-stage African startups,” said Akamanzi.  “This groundbreaking new initiative reflects our commitment to expanding the African sports ecosystem, and these incredible companies will be at the forefront of shaping the future of sport on the continent.”

Additional information about Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator will be announced at a later date.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of National Basketball Association (NBA).

Photo: https://apo-opa.co/4daIrqQ (U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Enoh T. Ebong and NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi at the Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator launch) (Credit: NBA Africa)

Video: https://apo-opa.co/3UtDGBg (Triple-Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator)

Contact:
Pawel Weszka 
NBA Africa Communications 
pweszka@nba.com
+27 10 0072666

About NBA Africa:
NBA Africa is an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  NBA Africa conducts the league’s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and has opened subsidiary offices in Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya.  The NBA has a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010.  The league’s efforts on the continent have focused on increasing access to basketball and the NBA through youth and elite development, social responsibility, media distribution, corporate partnerships, NBA Africa Games, NBA Stores, the BAL, and more. 

NBA games and programming are available in all 54 African countries, and the NBA has hosted three sold-out exhibition games on the continent since 2015.  The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that tipped off its fourth season in March 2024. Fans can follow @NBA_Africa and @theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, today launched the UNHCR Climate Resilience Fund, seeking to boost the protection of refugees and displaced communities who are most threatened by climate change.

As part of its work to protect and assist more than 114 million people who have been forced to flee, UNHCR already seeks to build people’s resilience and reduce their vulnerability to risks, including the impact of climate change. For the first time, the Fund will exclusively target financing efforts to protect the most threatened displaced communities, equipping them to prepare for, withstand and recover from climate-related shocks.

Contributions to the Fund will boost the reach and impact of UNHCR’s climate action, enabling the agency and its partners to commit to climate-related projects in countries where it is already responding to major conflict-related situations of forced displacement, such as Bangladesh, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mozambique.

The Fund will increase the availability of environmentally sustainable resources in displacement settings, providing more clean energy, for example, to power the water, schools and health infrastructure used by refugees and their hosts. It will support environmental restoration and will invest in resilience by building climate-resilient shelters, supporting climate-smart livelihoods, and reducing the impact of the humanitarian response on the natural environment.

“The impacts of climate change are only becoming more devastating, increasingly exacerbating conflict, destroying livelihoods and, ultimately, triggering displacement,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “Many of the countries that have been the most generous in accepting refugees are also the most impacted by the climate crisis. Funding available to address the impacts of climate change is not reaching those forcibly displaced, nor the communities hosting them.”

The Fund will prioritize projects whose effects are felt locally and which involve affected communities in their design and implementation, as well as aligning with national climate strategies and development plans.

Climate risks are strongly correlated with conflict and poverty, which so many refugees and other forcibly displaced people experience. In 2022, over 70 per cent of refugees and asylum-seekers fled from highly climate-vulnerable countries. Around 60 per cent of forcibly displaced and stateless people live in fragile and/or conflict-affected countries that are among the most vulnerable to climate change, and the least ready to adapt.

“By reducing exposure to climate-related hazards, securing access to sustainable resources, and promoting inclusion, these projects will deliver tangible improvements in the living conditions, safety, and well-being of refugees and their hosts,” Grandi added. “In the spirit of the Loss and Damage Fund activated at COP28, UNHCR is committed to advocate and significantly increase funding to support climate action in fragile environments.”

UNHCR aims to raise US$100 million for the Fund by the end of 2025 to support refugees, host communities and countries of origin hardest hit by the climate emergency, and to promote refugees’ inclusion in climate-related measures that are taken nationally and locally. The Fund is expected to become a channel for partners to contribute to UNHCR’s climate programming.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In a move to advance agricultural entrepreneurship and agribusiness development across Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Union (AU) have unveiled two new publications on agribusiness incubators and public-private partnerships. 

The first publication, Agribusiness Incubation and Acceleration Landscape in Africa is an in-depth analysis and mapping of over 430 enterprise support organizations across the continent, aiming to fill the gap in publicly available information on agribusiness incubation and acceleration programmes and their impacts. The publication is based on a study commissioned by FAO and the AU. It reveals that while significant growth in agribusiness incubation in Africa has been noted since 2010, the ecosystem remains underdeveloped, particularly in West and Central Africa. Recommendations include improving policies, establishing incubation support programmes, and promoting knowledge sharing to enhance the agribusiness incubation landscape.

“Given that agribusiness incubation and acceleration is still a relatively recent development in Africa, there is very limited knowledge among policy makers and practitioners alike,” AU Commissioner Josefa Sacko and FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel said in the report’s joint foreword.  “The findings and recommendations presented in this report aim at providing practical guidance to policy makers, practitioners and development partners seeking to maximize the impact of publicly funded agribusiness incubation programmes.”

Public-private partnerships for agricultural transformation

The second publication, Guide for the Design and Implementation of Public-Private Partnerships for Agribusiness Development in Africa, aims to support African countries in crafting sustainable and inclusive public-private partnerships (PPPs) for agribusiness development. It draws on lessons learned from across Africa.

“This guide is intended to be a practical tool for policymakers interested in promoting agri-PPPs as part of their overall agricultural transformation strategies,” Josefa Sacko and Abebe Haile-Gabriel said in their joint foreword to the report.

The launch of these guides marks a critical step forward in harnessing the potential of agribusiness to drive economic growth and food security across Africa. 

These two publications are contributing to the implementation of the African Union Agribusiness Youth Strategy, while at FAO the work is guided by the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031 which aims to support countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly ending poverty and hunger and reducing inequalities, through the four betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of FAO Regional Office for Africa.

On Wednesday, April 24, for about 50 minutes from 4:30 p.m., Minister for Foreign Affairs Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko received a courtesy call from the Diplomatic Missions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to Japan.

At the outset, Minister Kamikawa paid tribute to the ECOWAS diplomatic missions for its ongoing efforts to strengthen relations with Japan, and introduced Japan’s initiatives for peace and stability in the Sahel region and the coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea, while also explaining her lifework such as the efforts based on the perspective of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS)　and reinforcement of cooperation based on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Minister Kamikawa also mentioned that Japan has been supporting Africa’s development through TICAD for more than 30 years, and that the TICAD Ministerial Meeting in August this year will be held to support Africa’s internal transformation, including the Agenda 2063, and to strengthen cooperation with the African countries to reinforce global governance, including the rule of law, in preparation for TICAD 9 next year.
H.E. Mr. Blamoh NELSON, Ambassador of the Republic of Liberia to Japan and Dean of the ECOWAS Diplomatic Missions to Japan, expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the role Japan is playing in the development of the West Africa and his expectation to develop relations between Japan and ECOWAS countries from various perspectives, including increasing Japanese investment and cooperation for human resource development.　Other ambassadors also expressed their desire to strengthen bilateral relations as well as economic ties between the West African region and Japan.
In closing, Minister Kamikawa stated that, in light of the useful comments and expectations received from the ambassadors today, Japan will continue to emphasize dialogue with each country and work closely with ECOWAS countries, both bilaterally and internationally, including at TICAD, in cooperation with the business community.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.