Shaping Africa's Sports Industry, a conversation with Amadou Gallo Fall, Paxton Baker & Osi Umenyiora

At Silverbacks, our appetite for sports knows no bound. Our investment in The Cape Town Tigers is the first in a series of exciting investments opportunities to contribute to the creation of value through sports in Africa. And this September promises to be one to remember as we have the immense honor to announce to the world that the Tigers have just welcomed the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Verdine White as the latest investor in the South African team. The multi Grammy-winning artist, founder of the immortal Earth, Wind and Fire crescendoed his way into the world of sports by following the footsteps of our esteemed board member Paxton Baker. 

Our loyal podcast’s subscribers already know that I have had the privilege of interviewing Paxton Baker , Amadou Gallo Fall , and Osi Umenyiora separately throughout this season. As the year comes to a close we saw fit to bring these three pioneers of African sports together. This panel discussion took place at the Global Sports Summit, organized by our friends at the Sports Leadership Institute, LLC . Here are a few knowledge nuggets for you, watch the full episode on Youtube and subscribe to be notified about our next episodes ! 

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“We are following the path of the NBA” 

Osi Umenyiora explained in our previous episode that he saw the works of Amadou Gallo Fall and the NBA Africa as the blueprint for what the National Football League (NFL) Africa aims to accomplish. Both speak on the importance of collaboration within the sports industry in Africa and how exchanging best practices across disciplines can yield positive results and impact for young people. 

 “There is a clear appetite for African-American investors to look at sports as an asset class in Africa.” 

 Paxton Baker shares his experience of having seen the Basketball Africa League (BAL) grow from an idea to a full-fledged competition. He explains how the National Basketball Association (NBA) ’s expertise has allowed the BAL to become such a high-level experience for players and coaching staff as well as fans and stakeholders in such a short amount of time. Following the announcement that he had joined the Cape Town Tigers’ investors group, he received solicitation from several high-profile figures of the American entertainment industry (in this episode, he does announce that Verdine White is joining him as an investor in the Cape Town Tigers). Amadou Gallo Fall also speaks to the attention the BAL has received from investors in the US notably at the Summer League.

 “The number one resource Africa has is its human capital” 

Amadou Gallo Falls talk about replicating the student-athlete model that first emerged in the United States in order to establish pathways of opportunities for young African athletes. Through his organization, SEED Project young people have been able to connect the dots between basketball and professional careers beyond the court : the latest NBA finals saw two SEED alumni from my home country Senegal, Remy Ndiaye and Dethie Fall, compete as members of the coaching staff of the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets respectively. Osi Umenyiora explains in the conversation how the SEED model has inspired his own Uprise initiative which has already led thirteen young men to find their way to the NFL or football scholarships. 

 “It’s important for us to export our products and push it in front of the diaspora eyeballs” 

Africa is undeniably trending. Osi Umenyiora notes that it has now become “cool” to be African and more people in the broader diaspora are keen to discover their roots and places of origins. Amadou Gallo Falls discusses the importance of bringing the BAL products outside of Africa : this summer the BAL participated in two international summer tournaments (Global Jam in Canada and Quai 54 in France). He explains that the lifestyle element of a sports brand is a key component that allows the product to reach an audience beyond sports fans. Paxton Baker talks about his attending this year’s record breaking concert of Burna Boy in NYC and about his tourism experiences in Kigali (Rwanda) which he was able to enjoy on the sidelines of the basketball competition - he talks about the importance of having such experiences and being able to share them on social media to encourage more African-Americans to travel to the continent of Africa. Silverbacks Valley is in fact diligently preparing for you a memorable episode around how Rwanda is positioning itself to become a major Live Events & Sports Hub. At the time of this episode’s release, the country is hosting Idris Elba and many other global celebrities for the 2023 Kwita Izina; barely few days after hosting the epic 20th anniversary of Masai Ujiri’s Giants of Africa .

“When a tree falls in Africa, people in the United States now hear about it.” 

The media industry’s technology innovation has made it possible for sports competition to be broadcasted around the world. Amadou Gallo Fall mentions that the BAL is currently broadcasted in 215 and counts media partners such as ESPN, Canal+, BeinSports, Tencent). Paxton Baker recognizes that the media plays a key role in allowing African talent to be detected early, he believes that Joel Embiid winning the 2023 NBA regular season MVP will generate even more interest for the talent that exists in Africa. All in all, this is only the beginning.

Special thanks again to Ian Gaffney who made this conversation possible !