A new professional league ‘The Basketball Africa League (BAL)’, featuring 12 club teams from all over Africa has been scheduled to tip-off in March 2020.
Today, John Manyo-Plange, the NBA ‘Named Africa Head of Business Operations and Ghanaian BAL Vice President & Head of Strategy and John Manyo-Plange willl start his new role immediately and will continue to report to BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall.
“Over the last decade, Manyo has been instrumental in the continued growth of basketball and the NBA’s brand across Africa,” said Fall. “He has helped expand the NBA’s business across the continent, and I look forward to continuing to build the BAL and African basketball ecosystem with Manyo’s support and leadership.”
Manyo-Plange has more than 20 years of experience in the NBA’s worldwide operations and management and has been working in his former role since May 2010 when he helped in launchinf the NBA Africa office in South Africa. Ever since then, he has led many aspects of the NBA’s continuous development In Africa.
Manyo-Plange spent 14 years before relocating to South Africa, at the NBA office in New York City, holding management positions all along multiple departments, including international business operations, events, and marketing.
Manyo holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University, where he double-majored in Political Science and Sports Management and was a Henry Rutgers Scholar.
He graduated from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration majoring in International Economic Development and Management.
In July, the BAL announced Cairo (Egypt), Dakar (Senegal), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda (Angola), Rabat (Morocco) and either Monastir or Tunis (Tunisia) as the host cities where the inaugural BAL regular season will take place and Kigali (Rwanda) as the host city for the first-ever BAL Final Four and BAL Final.
The outfitters of the new professional league are Nike and Jordan brand.
On the 16th of February, the announcement about the NBA and FIBA’s launch of the BAL, would mark the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside of North America.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is a proposed 12-team men’s basketball league scheduled to begin play in January 2020. The planned format is to be similar to the UEFA Champions League and Africa Basketball League. The league will be a joint effort between the National Basketball Association and FIBA.
The league will feature 12 teams after qualification tournaments late in 2019. Countries announced that could possibly host a team include; Nigeria, Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.