We’re just a few days into the Paris Olympics, and South Sudan’s Men’s basketball team is already lighting up the world’s greatest celebration of sport and inspiring a whole continent. As the only male African basketball team to qualify for the Games, and narrowly losing to the mighty US by a single point in a warmup game, Africans are adopting the ‘Bright Stars’ as their own. For fans of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) it’s even more special as one of our own, the rising star Khaman Maluach who plays for the City Oilers in the Ugandan league, has an important role in this fairytale. This is a time to celebrate the success of the fledgling BAL in not just nurturing and showcasing African basketball talent but also in driving economic and sporting development in Africa. And yet, some of the traditional sporting gatekeepers seem intent on killing our vibe with their hackneyed cries of ‘sportswashing’. BAL’s crime? Daring to partner with an African country called Rwanda. A nation that, despite the critic’s best efforts, simply refuses to meet their low expectations of Africans. A very condescending take here from Paul Pierce on South Sudan who face the USA tonight in a friendly game. He doesn’t think there is a player who’s 6ft3in! Meanwhile, the tallest ever player in the NBA - Manute Bol was from South Sudan at 7ft7in! ‍pic.twitter.com/HI8bZhjZ5s — Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) July 20, 2024 The NBA and BAL should be applauded for not being cowed by a vocal minority desperate to keep Africans away from the sporting top table. These organisations have the foresight to see the vital role sport plays economically and socially in Rwanda and across Africa. As the NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum told ESPN, “The conversations that we've had with Paul Kagame have all been about improving the lives of Rwandan people...How can we create; how can we inspire and connect people through the game of basketball to make Rwandan peoples' lives better. Sport has played an important role in Rwanda’s rapid economic transformation over the past 30 years. The ‘Visit Rwanda’ tourism campaign, promoted in large part through sports partnerships with Arsenal FC, Paris St Germain and FC Bayern Munich, allowed Rwanda to generate $620 million USD in 2023, a 36% increase from 2022. Rwanda has moved from a consumer of sport to a participant in the business of sports. Sport has also helped foster a sense of national unity – this can be seen on the regular ‘car free days’ when communities all across Rwanda come together to exercise outdoors. And it’s not just in Rwanda, sport has played a powerful role in post-conflict contexts on the continent and around the world. In 2015, the UN declared that “sport is an important enabler of sustainable development” and values “the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace”. So, these critics are not only trying to deprive us of the economic benefits of global sport, but they’re actively trying to undermine our efforts to achieve social cohesion. The reality of Rwanda is nothing like the dystopian fantasy painted by the ‘sportswashing brigade’. For the most part, those reporting in this way about Rwanda in the US and elsewhere have never lived here. So, they unquestioningly believe the self-styled “opposition” to our government. It’s much easier for them to believe these lies as they neatly fit with their Africa bias and confirm their belief that no country can truly develop and deliver progress to their people without conforming to the narrow Western style political model. But here’s a tip to all aspiring promoters of the sportswashing and other “washing” narratives: it’s probably best to avoid using self-confessed sponsors of terrorism to back up your story – as ESPN does by championing the narratives pushed by Victoire Ingabire and Paul Rusesabagina. Rwandans don’t need reminding that Rusesabagina admitted to financing an armed group responsible for killing men, women and children in Rwanda, while Ingabire was proven (thanks in part to evidence supplied by the Dutch authorities) to be collaborating with and financing the genocidal FDLR militia in Congo. If the ‘sportswashing brigade’ were genuinely crusading on behalf of the oppressed and standing up for democratic values, why don’t they attack Western governments when they roll back established rights or demonise parts of their population for political expediency? Why don’t they call for sporting events to be taken away from them? We Africans know why. It’s because, when it comes down to it, it’s not actually about values but it’s about maintaining a misplaced sense of superiority. But they are swimming against the tide. The NBA are just one of the global sporting brands who have come to see that there’s a world beyond the West. For them, Africa offers huge growth potential – both in terms of revenue and fans – and it’s also an opportunity for them to contribute to our development. And also for the sheer joy of sport, that brings people together. It’s a win-win. Masai Ujiri, the Toronto Raptors president and supporter of BAL, did a great job of summing up how Africans feel about the whole sportswashing issue when he spoke to ESPN for their piece I actually don't care what anybody really thinks here, he says. My focus is developing Africa, and I hope you write that. My focus is developing Africa and the growth, rather than [having] all those things that exist here [in the West] and everybody tries to stop us from having those there. So we get it, as unwarranted as the media hatchet jobs are, to quote President Kagame: “Critics are doing their job, let’s do ours”. Rwanda will continue to partner, build and prosper. The writer is the Spokesperson of the Government of Rwanda
