Former President Barack Obama has taken a minority stake in the National Basketball Association’s Africa business, joining as a strategic partner.
The NBA launched its Africa business, which oversees the Basketball Africa League, in May. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said it’s valued at nearly $1 billion.
The league said Obama will use his stake in NBA Africa to fund the Obama Foundation youth and leadership programs across Africa.
Obama plans to help advance the league’s social-responsibility efforts, including programs and partnerships across the continent that support greater gender equality and economic inclusion, the announcement said.
“The NBA has always been a great ambassador for the United States — using the game to create deeper connections around the world, and in Africa, basketball has the power to promote opportunity, wellness, equality, and empowerment across the continent,” Obama said in a statement.
“By investing in communities, promoting gender equality and cultivating the love of the game of basketball, I believe that NBA Africa can make a difference for so many of Africa’s young people.”
The NBA did not disclose the terms of Obama’s stake in the venture.
NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams said in a statement that the league has “ambitious growth plans.”
“We look forward to working with President Obama and our strategic investors to use basketball as an economic growth engine across the continent and as a platform to improve the health and wellness of one of the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations,” he said.
The Basketball Africa League currently has 12 teams, with league games airing in 215 countries and territories.
The league is one way the NBA can scout and develop talent from Africa. It’s also a way that NBA partners, like sports-betting companies, can test new technologies.
Nigeria-based industrial group Yinka Folawiyo Group and Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation, an investment company that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange, are investors in NBA Africa.
Former NBA players Luol Deng, who was born in South Sudan, and Joakim Noah, who has ties to Cameroon, are also investors, as well as a handful of other NBA legends with connections to the continent.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBA Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum also have board seats.