London, May 9, 2025: Giants of Africa, a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering African youths through basketball, says its “Giants of Africa Festival 2025’’ will be held in Kigali, Rwanda.
A statement by Tamara Kamaka, the foundation’s Director of Public Relations and Social Media, said on Thursday that its founder Masai Ujiri, Vice-Chairman and President of the Toronto Raptors, a professional Canada Basketball team, that the event would hold from July 26 to Aug. 2.
Kamaka said the festival would bring together 320 young athletes from 20 African nations, and more than 20,000 spectators for a week of community, culture, basketball, education, and entertainment with the motive to unite communities, spark potential, and drive transformative change across the continent.
“Like these kids, I grew up on the continent. As Africans, we know the landscape of what the kids go through. We know they dream just like we did and it really inspires me because those kids have so much more talent and intelligence, they have ways to communicate now that we didn’t.
“This festival is about showing them there is a path. We want them to never stop dreaming,’’ the statement quoted Ujiri as saying.
It said Giants of Africa Festival 2025 would begin with an exhilarating opening show, as the athletes unite in an inspiring parade to kick off the weeklong celebration.
“South African international DJ sensation Uncle Waffles, MTV Video Music Award-winning choreographer Sherrie Silver, and Rwandan singer and songwriter, Kevin Kade will bring electrifying performances as Ujiri and special guests welcome all to the festivities.
“The awe-inspiring event will mark the beginning of life-changing journeys for Africa’s leaders of tomorrow.’’
Taking place across Kigali Sports City’s BK Arena, Amahoro National Stadium, Petit Stade and Paralympic Gymnasium, the festival will showcase the full potential of Africa’s sports and entertainment ecosystem, highlighting its social and economic value for the next generation and the continent at large.
Giants of Africa Festival 2025 will also serve as the grand opening of Zaria Court. Founded by Ujiri, the new mixed-use sports, entertainment, and cultural district includes an 80-room hotel, sports bar, basketball court, event space, retail outlets, gym, five-a-side football pitch, and outdoor public areas.
The festival will conclude with a spectacular closing concert featuring performances from Nigerian Afrobeats artist, Kizz Daniel and award-winning Nigerian singer/songwriter Timaya.
Celebrity guests in attendance throughout the week will include Chris Tucker, Candace Parker, Robin Roberts, Chiney Ogwumike, Didier Drogba, Michael Blackson, Boris Kodjoe and more.
Since inception in 2003, Giants of Africa has empowered youths through basketball, hosting camps and building courts across 20 African countries.
The foundation not only teaches game fundamentals but connects young people with inspirational mentors who show how determination, leadership and integrity can transform dreams into reality.
Also, central to the organisation’s mission is basketball’s unique power to transcend barriers and unite diverse communities. The Giants of Africa Festival is a culmination of this vision, featuring a week of youth basketball camp and tournament that brings together young men and women from 20 nations.
Youth campers will represent Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Gabon, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania, D.R. Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Morocco, Botswana, and South Africa.
Giants of Africa and NBA/WNBA coaches and personnel will lead training sessions, with assistance from local coaches from the participating countries.
A round-robin tournament will determine which countries and players will compete in the festival’s championship and all-star games.
This year, Giants of Africa will also present its inaugural “Threads of Africa Fashion Show’’, celebrating culture, fashion and design from across Africa.
The show will spotlight the work of three talented fashion designers, each from a different region of the continent with Cameroon’s Hortense Mbea (Afropian), Niger’s Alia Baré (Alia), and Rwanda and South Africa’s Nyambo (Masa Mara) each presenting their new collections, and come together for a moderated discussion.
Additionally, the festival highlights include the International Youth Day Forum, presented in partnership with the Imbuto Foundation, Ministry of Youth and Arts and ALX, bringing together over 2,000 Rwandan youth and festival campers to hear from esteemed leaders.
The Women’s Community Outreach Program will take place in Rwanda and across all 20 represented countries, offering leadership and education sessions in local communities to empower women and girls with knowledge, resources, and inspiration.
Giants of Africa Festival 2025 follows the inaugural Giants of Africa Festival which took place in Kigali in 2023 in celebration of the non-profit organisation’s 20th anniversary.
The inaugural event united over 250 youth basketball players from 16 African nations, drew in over 14,000 spectators, and saw an estimated 1.5m dollars invested into Kigali’s local economy.
The festival culminated in a closing concert featuring performances from Afrobeats icon Davido, Queen of Afrobeats Tiwa Savage, Rwanda’s own Bruce Melodie, and South African superstar Tyla.
It was a beacon of unity, inspiration, and transformation that ignited the continent. Building upon their bold ambitions, Masai Ujiri and Giants of Africa are poised to make an even more powerful statement in 2025.
The tickets for the Giants of Africa Festival 2025’s Opening Show and Closing Concert, Kamaka said, had gone on sale form May May 8 at 3:00 p.m. Central Africa Time.
The organisation’s spokesman advised that anyone interested in learning more about the festival, its other initiatives and to purchase tickets or VIP and corporate packages, to please visit www.GOAFestival.org or email info@giantsofafrica.org.
Kamaka said the Giants of Africa Festival 2025 would like to express its gratitude to all sponsors and partners who have contributed to making the event possible.
He listed them as The Lake Family’s All One Fund, RwandAir, ALX Africa, Kensington, Sport Court International, LLC, BK Arena, DHL Express Canada, Imbuto Foundation, Ministry of Sports, Visit Rwanda, Volkswagen Move, Zaria Court, Bralirwa Plc and Toronto Raptors.
It said Masai Ujiri, an award-winning and barrier-breaking NBA executive, founded Giants of Africa in 2003 and the organisation draws upon Ujiri’s unique basketball journey to achieve its goal of uplifting African youth with programs focused on empowerment and leadership.
As the first African general manager in North American professional sports, who was named NBA Executive of the Year in 2013, Ujiri’s ascent to the top of the basketball world began in his native Nigeria and took him around the world as a player, scout and executive,
It culminated in 2019 when he served as the architect of a Toronto Raptors team that became the first franchise outside the United States to be crowned NBA champions.
