By Rihana Adam
Accra, Dec. 27, GNA – Team Ghana defeated their Nigerian counterparts 33-32 to win the 2022 edition of the African Basketball Festival held at the Bukom Arena in Accra.
The festival was organised by Rite Sports under the auspices of the Beyond the Return Committee.
It was aimed at using sports, music and fashion to engage Africans in the diaspora.
In another game, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) basketball team, which replaced United States of America, defeated France 33-30 to emerge victorious.
The winners of the games would donate their prizes to orphanages of their choice.
The night also featured a fashion show by Beautiful Beneath, Bloom by Edzi, and Elikem Kumordzi, while some musicians entertained the spectators.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Yaw Sakyi Afari, CEO of RITE Sports, expressed gratitude to the committee and promised to extend the event to other countries.
He said, “As far as we had all the teams participating, I would say this is a very successful event. It is not about filling the 4000-seat space but if you have 2000 turning up to support a basketball event, around this time when there are many events happening, I would definitely call it a successful one.
“We are impressed by the enthusiasm, the commitment exhibited by the participating countries and we are confident that come next year we are even going to see a better performance.
“Come next year we are going to increase the African teams and also the continents, it would be more than a day’s event.”
“In two years, we should be hosting the Africa basketball festival in Nigeria or South Africa – Ghana is a starting point, ” he added.
GNA