The recently-launched NBA Africa is seeking to elevate basketball on the continent, and the Basketball Africa League held in Rwanda was a historic game-changer.



BY ARNOLD KWIZERA



The hosting of a global or continental sports tournament in the midst of a pandemic is no mean feat, and making it successful an even greater achievement. 



The inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL), Africa’s premier men’s basketball league, at the newly-built Kigali Arena in Rwanda in the second half of May saw Egyptian giants Zamalek crowned champions of the first-ever National Basketball Association (NBA)-backed league outside of North America. 



But it was not only the triumph of the North African side that was a highlight at the tournament. The event brought together leading global names to the East African hill city of Kigali. For a football-crazed continent, this marked a new beginning for basketball in Africa.



The star-spangled event featured some big names. In attendance was French President Emmanuel Macron, the former CEO of Credit Suisse Tidjane Thiam, American businessman and co-owner of NBA franchise Milwaukee Bucks, Wes Edens, basketball royalty such as Dikembe Mutombo and Joakim Noah, and ardent basketball fan and tournament host, Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame.



The continent’s music stars were in attendance too – from Nigeria, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – descending on Kigali’s green streets for the historic event.



The two-week tournament kicked off with attention brought to it by the participation of Grammy-award-winning American rapper J.Cole’s set for Rwanda’s Patriots Basketball Club.



The inaugural BAL season featured 12 club teams from 12 African countries: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tunisia.



BAL was supposed to be held in 2020 in Senegal capital Dakar but the pandemic pushed it out. That didn’t deter the organizers from holding it a year later, moving the showpiece to Rwanda. Taking lessons from the NBA bubble created to host the 2020 playoffs, BAL was held as a live event ensuring the safety of all players and staff. Spectators had to present a negative Covid-19 test and attendance was limited with social distance measures observed.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-beginnings">THE BEGINNINGS</h3>



In February 2019, the NBA and International Basketball Federation announced they would jointly set up a continental clubs basketball tournament. The announcement made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver during the All-Star Weekend dwelt on a champions league format competition whose long-term aim would be to tap into not only a growing basketball market but also create opportunities for talent from Africa to play at an elite level.



Think Joel Embiid from Cameroon, who finished second in this year’s Most Valuable Player voting in the NBA, or Pascal Siakam, an All-Star player who had an integral part in the Toronto Raptors winning the 2019 NBA championship.



Experts say Africa has the talent but for a long time has lacked a formal structure to propel that very talent.



“When you think of the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, a former NBA Most Valuable Player, we have never lacked in talent but we need infrastructure to help us tap into this talent and create opportunities for young Africans,” says Masai Ujiri, President of the Toronto Raptors.



Masai, of Nigerian and Kenyan origin, has been influential in bringing NBA programs to the African continent.



But one man key to the tournament was Amadou Gall Fall, the soft-spoken Senegalese at the helm of BAL, who brought global brands and businesses to the event for multi-year partnerships of the league that is now being valued at more than $1 billion.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">THE OPPORTUNITIES</h3>



Edens, known for his investment in sports, said the potential of BAL is enormous with now being the right time: “There is no doubt the talent is there, the market is there but what largely lacked is the infrastructure. This is not only an opportunity for sportsmen but for economies on the African continent to tap into a whole new ecosystem.” According to BAL chief Fall,the opportunities are beyond the basketball played on court.



“We have to look at the potential for growth of the creative industry, the coaches, agents, it’s a whole network that we as Africans can tap into,” he said.



For this to happen, leadership on the continent will need to chip in. On meeting with BAL and NBA officials in 2018, Kagame had asked what it would take for his country to be a part of the development of the sport. He was told the country would need a world-class facility for the tournament. The 10,000-seater Kigali Arena was hence built from the ground up.



“It is such visionary, people-centric leadership that we need on the continent for our growth,” said Ujiri.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT NEXT?</h3>



At the awards ceremony, Fall announced that Kigali would host the next two editions of the tournament with a stronger focus on empowering national leagues. “We need to strengthen the enthecompetitiveness of the national leagues as this will have a long- term impact on the quality of the tournament,” he said.



As the organizers of the tournament, NBA Africa pledged its support to national leagues with various partners also doing so.



“We have to create more funding avenues and have an all-rounded ecosystem; when you look at the NBA, it employs more people than the number of athletes,” said Mutombo, one of the investors in NBA Africa.



As Zamalek’s captain Mostafa Kejo lifted the Baobab tree-inspired trophy, it not only brought the curtain down on a world-class tournament but heralded the beginning of a new dawn for the sport on the African continent.

2021 NBA Finals – Game Two

How Africa is Aiming High to Elevate Basketball on The Continent

LeBron James’ move to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency in July 2018 brought star power back to the NBA’s glamour franchise. AT&amp;T hopes James can bring that same star power, and his millions of fans, to its latest offering.



Today, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2019/05/15/worlds-largest-telecom-companies-2019/#2c8aba756d4e">world’s largest telecom company</a>&nbsp;fully launches its new streaming service, AT&amp;T TV (not to be confused with AT&amp;T TV Now), with a national campaign featuring James and others celebrities like Missy Elliott, Tracy Morgan and Cookie Monster in a series of ads based on “TV Famous Mouths.”



James has dominated the NBA action on the court this season. He leads the league in assists and has the Lakers five and a half games ahead of the rest of the Western Conference in his 17th year in the NBA. Yet King James might be enjoying an even better year off the court, with a handful of new lucrative endorsement partners and the continued growth of his I Promise community.



The four-time NBA MVP’s sponsorship prowess and commitment to Akron schoolchildren converge with the multiyear AT&amp;T agreement. As part of the partnership, AT&amp;T’s technology and other resources will be allocated to the I Promise Village, which serves as transitional housing for families with students at the nearby I Promise School opened by James, his namesake foundation and the Akron school district in 2018.



“To have one of the biggest communications companies in the world believe in my kids and the work we’re doing to uplift families is incredible,” James said in a release announcing the agreement.



James already has a deep relationship with AT&amp;T through the company’s Warner Bros. Entertainment and HBO divisions. His production company, SpringHill Entertainment, partnered with Warner Bros. to develop the&nbsp;Space Jam 2&nbsp;film, which stars James and is set for a 2021 summer release.&nbsp;The Shop&nbsp;and&nbsp;Student Athlete&nbsp;are both SpringHill shows that appear on HBO. And Warner Bros. and Turner Sports&nbsp;<a href="https://www.warnerbros.com/news/press-releases/uninterrupted-secures-158m-financing-led-warner-bros-entertainment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">invested $15.8 million</a>&nbsp;in late 2015 in Uninterrupted, the digital multimedia company founded by James and his business partner Maverick Carter.



AT&amp;T joins James’ burgeoning endorsement portfolio, which also added Rimowa luggage, Walmart and the mental fitness app Calm over the past year. General Motors revealed James as its new pitchman last month&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/sports/super-bowl-2020-lebron-james-gmc-ad/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">during a Super Bowl ad</a>&nbsp;for the upcoming GMC Hummer EV. The above brands&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/10/23/the-nbas-highest-paid-players-2019-20-lebron-james-scores-record-92-million/#29cb1fe4dae6">join James’ longtime sponsors</a>&nbsp;Nike, Coca-Cola, Beats and Blaze Pizza.&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates James will earn more than $60 million off the court this year, on top of his $37.4 million salary with the Lakers. Nike represents&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/08/28/the-nbas-richest-shoe-deals-lebron-kobe-and-durant-are-still-no-match-for-michael-jordan/#476c1dac3d02">more than half</a>&nbsp;of his endorsement earnings.



James has incorporated many of his recent sponsors into his I Promise initiative, including AT&amp;T. Walmart stocks the school’s pantry, which is accessible 24 hours a day for the school’s families, with fresh and frozen food, toiletries and other basic necessities. The content on the Calm app is available to all I Promise students and staff.



AT&amp;T TV has been available in 13 cities to this point. It&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/at-t-launches-new-online-tv-service-as-video-customers-fall-1282026" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">enters a crowded streaming market</a>&nbsp;battling for cord-cutters, many of them subscribers of DirecTV, which AT&amp;T acquired in 2015 for $48.5 billion. AT&amp;T TV features an Android-based set-top box that acts like a Roku or Apple TV and offers live TV, DVR storage and on-demand titles that are also available on mobile devices.



AT&amp;T is banking on James to attract subscribers. His 150 million social media fans across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are by far the most of any American athlete. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/08/03/social-medias-most-valuable-athletes-ronaldo-mcgregor-and-lebron-score/">The only athletes with more fans</a> are global soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.



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</div></figure>



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/">Kurt Badenhausen</a>, Forbes Staff, Sports Business

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LeBron James Adds Multiyear AT&T Deal To His Endorsement Stable

It is a warm August day in Nairobi, Kenya, as I make my way to Emmanuel Jambo’s Emms photography studio to meet with two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Luol Deng. As celebrated photographer Jambo shoots Deng, the basketball star strikes poses with his brother, Ajou, who is also a professional basketball player. Standing at a not-too-shabby 5ft10, I feel diminutive next to them. The atmosphere in the studio is vibrant and it is obvious that family is paramount to the Deng brothers. The jovial session continues for a while as he tells me “…I was always taken care of by my family… we are tight, there is a lot of joy and we are always laughing.”
Deng’s story is an inspirational one crisscrossing three continents. His journey began in South Sudan, where he was born 32 years ago. Tumultuous politics forced his family to flee to Alexandria, Egypt, when he was five years old.
Five years later, the exodus continued with the family being granted political asylum in London. These years saw a metamorphosis from a nonchalant happy go lucky child raised in Egypt into a quiet and intuitive pre-teen.
“I became more reserved and tried to figure out the new culture and language,” says Deng.
The move from Egypt to London led Luol to begin internalizing life lessons, and cultivating the level of drive and discipline that defines him today.
“My mum was working two jobs and, at the time, I didn’t know what they were, but all I noticed was her working and working. I told her that I never wanted to see her overworking again and made a commitment to save my bus fare, walk to school and find a job,” he recalls.
Deng propelled himself into gaining work experience. He secured a part-time job at a bakery, where he would sweep the floor at closing time for a meager wage. He put these small earnings into a small personal business where he bought tubes of sorbet and resold at a profit to his schoolmates. At the end of the week, he would hand his profits to his mother.
That work ethic is probably the reason he has been so successful in his basketball career. The current 2017-2018 season is Deng’s 14th year as an NBA player, having played with four of the association’s major teams.
<div id="attachment_35744" style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35744" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-35744" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Luol-Deng-suit-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="525" />Luol Deng (Photo by Emmanuel Jambo)</div>
His career began with the legendary Chicago Bulls, where he spent a decade before bouncing from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat and, in 2016, signed a four-year, $72-million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. This lucrative deal brings his reported career earnings to about $150 million.
Deng’s career has been blessed with highs as well as plagued by pitfalls. The All-Star is candid about his journey, and the challenges that have marked one of the most successful African NBA careers.
The story returns to his earlier memories in Egypt, where his elder brother participated in a short but crucial basketball training clinic run by the great Sudanese-born Manute Bol. His brother passed the lessons down.
“At a young age, say about seven, I started to play basketball and doing everyday drills that an NBA player taught my brother.”
Deng excelled in sports and at the age of 14 was awarded a scholarship to play basketball at Blair Academy in New Jersey, United States. He thrived at Blair and went on to attain yet another athletic scholarship, south of New Jersey, at Duke University in North Carolina. After a year at university, he decided to turn professional. It didn’t start as he’d hoped though. A wrist injury in his shooting hand saw him subjected to multiple doctor probes that eventually led to surgery.
“I had just turned 19, and one of the doctors I was seeing told me to start thinking of an alternative to basketball. Luckily the doctor that ended up doing the surgery assured me that though it would be a long road to recovery, there was hope.”
Fortunately, his recovery was faster than anticipated and he impressed on the court.
Three seasons later, he suffered another injury. This time the injury was both physical and emotional.
“I remember the media just destroying me as I kept missing games.”
Another series of doctor consults revealed a fractured tibia. This time he sought the holistic route and let his body heal naturally, rather than undergo a surgery that would have seen a metal rod placed in his right leg. The arduous trek to get a clean bill of health took almost a year and a half, and it paid off as Deng was announced as an All-Star the following year.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2015/05/01/basketball-bully-boys/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Basketball Bully Boys</a>
Conscious of his roots, Deng was sending a message to African youth across the globe. He galvanized the world’s attention. A young African man that had lived as a displaced refugee, overcame supposed career-ending injuries and rampant media scrutiny, stood in front of the world as one of the best players in the NBA.
“I felt the need to show where I am from.”
When his All-Star tracksuit came off, a t-shirt branded with an African map was revealed, violating the strict NBA uniform regulations. Aware of the repercussions he was to face from the league, Deng warned his coaches beforehand.
“I basically said, ‘coach, I don’t want to disrespect you but there is something I just have to do, I’m probably going to get fined but this is bigger than what they are going to fine me’,” he says.
“For me, this was my biggest moment because of what it meant to all these kids that were watching the All-Star game and that they got to see Africa put on the map… I am proud to be African.”
During his career, Deng has participated in the NBA and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) initiative, Basketball Without Borders (BWB). He credits the NBA Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, Amadou Gallo Fall, who he fondly refers to as “Godfather” for introducing him to this program. During off seasons, he and other NBA players visit Africa for a series of training workshops for selected youngsters. Some of these youngsters have received further training in the US and a few, such as Joel Embiid of Cameroon, are playing in the NBA.
The sport is taking off on the continent.
“Time and technology is really helping the game in Africa, in terms of people realizing that there is a lot of talent here that can compete at a high level,” says Deng.
<div id="attachment_35745" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35745" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-35745" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Luol-Deng-Lakers-300x234.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="390" />Luol Deng of the Los Angeles Lakers scores a basket over Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz during the basketball game at Staples Center December, 27 2016, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)</div>
In 2015, the first NBA exhibition game was played in Johannesburg, South Africa. The second match, also in Johannesburg, was played in July 2017 and plans are underway for more exhibition games to be played across the continent in the coming years.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2015/03/01/kenyan-hercules-stomping-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Kenyan Hercules Stomping The States</a>
Deng also does his part for Africa through the Luol Deng Foundation. The Deng Top 50 Camp takes place every year, where talented youth train and compete.
As Deng enters the twilight of his playing career, he has recently turned vegan and appears slim and fit. His plans for the future? Deng says he has no political ambition, but wants to help build “the Africa we want”.
“I am very pro-Africa and throughout the course of my career, through my foundation and other business endeavors, I have started a series of things and hopefully when I retire I will be able to tie in all the activities I am passionate about and help contribute to a better way of life in my homeland and Africa as a whole.” &#8211; Written by Laura Rwiliriza

The NBA Player Standing Tall For Africa

Hardship was clear before a shot was aimed at a basket at Wembley Arena in Johannesburg. This should have been a great day for basketball in Africa. The pride of four nations battling it out in bright-colored kit. As they trained, the South African players, who hoped the game would pay their way, were not happy. Aside from a lack of money, they were told to play at their own risk.
Contracts said players would be liable for their own medical expenses, or death, or loss of property. Each was to get a $336 package for the camp, an extra $168 if they reach the final and $168 for winning. The money was not in the contract and the players had to ask.
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But, after two days of negotiations, the management failed to broker an agreement. They sent aggrieved players home and scrambled for a second-string team.
Neo Mothiba, one of the senior players with more than 10 years in the national team, was among those sent home. Only three, out of 15, returned.
“We were emailed contracts on March 13 at around 4PM and we were to sign and hand them in upon our arrival on Saturday (March 14). I went through the contract and I was obviously not happy with the clause that says there was no medical insurance and there was no clarity how much we (were to) get paid,” says Mothiba.
He denies the players asked for more money.
Ali Mokoena, the Deputy President of Basketball South Africa (BSA), after long deliberations, agreed to modify the medical aid clause, scratching it out and writing ‘full paid’, in pen.
“But I wouldn’t sign a contract written by hand, I work with contracts all the time. And even worse, they wanted us to sign there and then,” says Mothiba.
Mothiba, whose mother is a lawyer, says his contractual battles with the organization dates back more than a decade. He says he’s fed up.
“Last year November, the team went to Bulawayo for All Africa Games qualifiers but unfortunately I was left out because I questioned the contract and how much I was going to get paid. I work and I have a business on the side, I can’t leave everything behind for something I don’t know. I need to be clear with what I commit myself to,” says Mothiba.
Mothiba says BSA merely tweeted that the players were suspended. He is concerned this dispute could hurt his day job playing for Tshwane Suns and his training of youth in Pretoria.
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Solomzi Ngonelo, a manager of the Duzi Royals club in South Africa’s Basketball National League (BNL) and who also runs an amateur team in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, was one of negotiators for the players. He corroborates Mothiba’s claims.
Ngonelo says in a separate meeting, on the second day of the camp, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula promised to get to the bottom of the problem and admitted the players were being treated unfairly. Despite this, Mokoena went ahead and called off the camp the next day.
“A player, Lucky Loate, was a victim when he was injured at the All Africa Games qualifiers in Madagascar in 2011. He needed an operation on his ankle but was given the run around by BSA until he gave in… basketball players need to stand together. This is bigger than basketball, it is a matter of principle,” says Ngonelo.
BSA does not offer long term contracts, players sign up per event. There has never been a fulltime coach. George Makena of Tshwane Suns was appointed coach for this tournament.
The furore ignited when players went to a national radio station to air their grievance.
Solly Malatsi, a member of parliament who is in the sports and recreation portfolio, listened and contacted the players. He wrote to his chairperson, Beauty Dlulane, and South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) executive officer, Tubby Reddy.
“Young professional athletes have been victimized and bullied for simply asking to be treated fairly… It is totally unacceptable the national team players are (treated) this way by their own federation. The risk of injury is a serious threat to the career of athletes. The federation should at all times cover this. It is common practice in other sport codes,” Malatsi wrote in the letter.
Reddy, in a reply, says Sascoc was investigating. BSA was restructuring, after Sascoc placed it under administration, because it was found to have financial mismanagement, he says.
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“It would appear that as a result of this, the current executive of BSA was not prepared to place the association at financial risk again, and thereafter withdrew the selection of the individual members concerned, and re-selected a further group of players to represent the association and the country in this tournament,” says Reddy.
This dispute is a small part of a bigger and more depressing picture for basketball in Africa’s second biggest economy.
Graeme Joffe, a senior commentator in South Africa and former CNN sports presenter, also weighed in.
“Surely, the players had every right to ask for those amendments. Why should any athlete have to pay out of their pocket if injured when representing the country? But the bully boys of South Africa basketball didn’t like to be challenged,” he says.
Sibongile Fondini, a BSA executive council member and provincial administrator in Port Elizabeth, a city in the east coast of South Africa, argues the sport in his province is still amateur and lacks sponsorship.
“The fact that we managed to host the event is a sign we are progressing but there are so many challenges in our way. A SuperSport program Siyadlala is piloting a basketball broadcasting program in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces. I hope that reaches out to other provinces and the sport will surely grow as well,” says Fondini.
Joffe disagrees.
“Just drive through Port Elizabeth and see what most of the basketball courts are used for these days. Certainly not basketball. Sunsport (a basketball training program) reported, as of March 31, BSA had accumulated losses amounting to R5.7 million (around $482,000) and the association’s total liabilities exceeded to the tune of the same amount. Sascoc were left to probe the missing funds,” says Joffe.
A former BSA president and politician, Malesela Maleka, admitted in 2012 that the association was bankrupt but complained that the national lottery – which funds many South African sports – did not respond to a BSA application for money two years before.
In June 2013, before the sports and recreation portfolio committee in parliament, BSA said a lack of credibility, poor leadership, low morale among players and dysfunctional provinces were among their problems. It was then $500,000 in the red.
All four teams in Johannesburg admitted their fair share of financial problems. Nigeria’s coach, Sani Ahmed, and his captain, Olumide Oyedeji, lamented the lack of money but did not want to say more. At least the South African players are free to speak.
Nigeria, called D’Tigers, won the tournament, beating Mozambique 72-59 in the final. South Africa was third and Kenya last. If it was an administration tournament maybe South Africa would have come last.

Basketball Bully Boys

I finally meet the second-most powerful person in the US government’s development finance arm at a lavish awards evening in Manhattan, New York City, in late September. The 60th anniversary of the Africa-America institute; it is a spectacular affair. The who’s who of the Diaspora and African glitterati mingle with global business leaders, dignitaries and heads of state. At ease among them all, in a fabulous blue Tracy Reese cocktail dress, is Mimi Alemayehou.
We are seated at the same table, along with former Congolese-American basketball star Dikembe Mutombo and Nigerian model Oluchi Onweagba. Alemayehou manages to look as much a modern woman of the world as she is intrinsically African. She is a global player, with a très chic sense of fashion. As we exchange pleasantries, I am struck by her self confidence and keen sense of direction.
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Alemayehou is the executive vice president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic). Based in Washington DC, Opic works with the US private sector, and has a portfolio of more than $17 billion invested in over 100 countries around the world. And as the body’s second-in-command, Alemayehou oversees the distribution and implementation of these funds. She explains that Opic fosters investment in developing nations, by addressing “major world challenges, from poverty and hunger to access to electricity and financial services”, which also helps the US gain a foothold in emerging markets.
Alemayehou has held the senior Opic position since March 2010, when she was nominated by US President Barack Obama; a decision the Senate supported unanimously.
“I feel privileged to help lead an agency that is making a real difference around the world every day. Opic’s work supporting American businesses and mobilizing investment in emerging markets is particularly relevant today at a time when the private sector is playing such a key role in development,” Alemayehou says.
Although she is a naturalized American citizen, living and working in Washington DC, Alemayehou was born in Ethiopia, and the African nation has shaped the woman she has become. “I was definitely impacted by my early years in Ethiopia, as was every Ethiopian of my generation who lived through the Red Terror years,” she says.
A dark period in the country’s history, the Red Terror was a violent political campaign carried out in Ethiopia and Eritrea between 1976 and 1978. It is estimated that up to 500,000 people were tortured and killed under the brutal regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
“Seeing family members and friends imprisoned and killed for political reasons gave me a very early life lesson in the pursuit of freedom, not just political, but economic freedom.
“My parents’ and grandparents’ properties were expropriated and overnight they and many other families lost everything they had worked hard for. That’s a lesson that’s hard to forget.”
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When she was eight years old, Alemayehou’s family moved to Kenya, where she spent some of the most impressionable years of her life. “I still have more friends in Kenya than I do in my country of birth,” she points out. Four years later, the family left for California, in the US. Shortly after they arrived on American soil, Mimi started high school.
“I was fortunate enough to have had parents who valued education and particularly to have had a mother and grandmother who were progressive, loving, and had the same expectations of me as they did for my two brothers, Addis and Daniel. In fact, my brothers would argue that our parents expected more from me than them,” she recalls, laughing.
Our short encounter leaves me yearning to know more. As fate would have it, I meet Alemayehou again the following evening, this time at a party organized by Sudanese telecommunications entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim. The billionaire philanthropist is celebrating the launch of the New Africa Center in Harlem, New York. Once known as the Museum of African Art, the building is being reinvented as a policy institute and space to showcase both African art and African intellect.
As on our previous encounter, Alemayehou is perfectly at ease ming-ling with the high-profile guests. Among them are musician and philanthropist Bono; Ethiopian-born
supermodel, Liya Kebede; the former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae; and head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
With Afrobeat melodies playing in the background, I probe Alemayehou for more details about her career path. “I got to where I am today partly because I did not always listen to the advice I got,” she concedes.
Before she joined Opic, Alemayehou tells me, she served as the US executive director at the African Development Bank, effectively the most senior US Treasury official in Africa.
“Earlier in my career I was always interested in working on Capitol Hill, but a lot of people – including some of my own family members – told me that there was no way a member of Congress would hire someone who was not an American citizen. I pursued this dream anyway and was ultimately hired as legislative staffer on Capitol Hill.
“I have found it invaluable to question things and not necessarily take ‘no’ for an answer,” she says firmly.
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After graduating from the West Texas A&amp;M University, Alemayehou completed a Master’s degree in international business, law and deve-lopment at The Fletcher School in Massachusetts.
Today, she juggles her high-powered, travel-intensive job with the equally demanding roles of a life partner and mother. She says having a supportive partner, a live-in nanny, and close-knit network of girlfriends make it possible. “I think the family that you make is much more important that the family you are born into.”
But she cautions that “every woman is unique, and what is the appropriate balance for one is not necessarily right for another”. For Alemayehou, going for light jogs with her son means that she can spend quality time with him and still get her workout done.
“One thing about being a mother, I have become an expert multitasker! For example, I could breastfeed the baby and send out emails at the same time,” she quips.
Alemayehou’s roles as a life partner and a mother are clearly a great source of joy and pride to her. “My daughter has been to Switzerland, Senegal, and Puerto Rico. Three continents and she is only two years old! It is very important to me that I expose my children to much more than I was exposed to growing up,” she says seriously.
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She also derives great fulfillment from her work: “Opic has supported many exciting projects in Africa in the past few years”. These include the development of a plant cultivation and agricultural production facility in Rwanda and the rehabilitation of municipal water systems in Ghana. She points out that Opic is one of the largest private equity investors in Africa: “I am very proud of our record. Our investment in Africa has gone up by 300 percent over the last four years.”
She is particularly interested in young people on the continent. One of Opic’s projects in Kenya is a microfinance loan program, which lends money to various entrepreneurs such as youth cooperative groups. Alemayehou also believes in the importance of mentoring.
“What is truly important is mentoring young women who look up to us. It’s our duty to mentor as many young women as we are able to. (Former US secretary of state) Madeleine Albright said: ‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women’. She is right. We have to do our part to make sure the next generation learns from our experience and hopefully benefits from it.”
She may be a global executive operating in the fast lane, but she claims to have “no desire to run for political office”. Instead, Alemayehou says she focuses on what she cares about: development in Africa: “The most important thing is to find out what you are passionate about.”

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