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AFA Sports is a Nigerian company that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of athletic and leisure footwear, apparel and accessories. It is a private company with its headquarters based in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry |
|
| Founded | November 30, 2016 |
| Founder | Ugo Udezue |
| Headquarters | Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria |
| Products | |
| Website | afasports |
Origins and history
editAFA means ‘Africa For Africa’. The company was started by Ugo Udezue, a former NBA Agent working with BDA Sports in United States.[1] His original idea was to create a Basketball league that would cater for professional basketball players in Africa which lead to the establishment of the Continental Basketball League, CBL. What was actually unplanned was the birth of AFA Sports, which was borne out of the desire to meet the kit demand of the Continental Basketball League. However, the Nigerian National Basketball team D’Tigers had a major kitting challenge going into the Afro Basket 2017 competition and AFA became their jersey sponsors. This sponsorship was a major game changer for them.[2][3]
Sponsorship
editNigeria Male basketball Team (D’Tigers)
editAFA sports was the jersey sponsor of the Nigeria Male basketball team, D’Tigers.[4] On the 22nd of February 2018, AFA Sports officially released a new jersey for the Nigeria Senior Male basketball team, D’tigers as they prepared to take off for Bamako, Mali for the 2019 FIBA Africa World Cup qualification.[5][6]
Nigeria Women’s Basketball Team (D’Tigress)
editIn 2018 ahead of the FIBA Women Worldcup, AFA Sports was confirmed as the official apparel sponsor of the Nigeria's Women Basketball team.[7] This partnership made the organization the first African sports apparel manufacturer to feature in a major international tournament.[8] On the 4th of August 2019, AFA unveiled a new Jersey for the team.[9][10] The notable change in the Jersey is the infusion of the Contemporary African Tribal print which is visible in the neck and tight region of the Jersey.[11]
Nigeria Volleyball Federation
editIn 2017, AFA partnered with the Nigeria Volley Federation as the official jersey sponsor of the Female Volleyball team.[12]
The Defenders
editOn March 6, 2019, it was officially announced that AFA Sports will be the Kit sponsor of the Defenders Basketball Team ahead of the African Basketball League tournament.[13][14]
CBL Sponsorship
editAFA Sports was the headline sponsor of the Continental Basketball League (CBL). As the headline sponsor, they kitted out all the five teams that competed in the tournament. The teams were Abidjan Raiders, Eko Kings, Lagos City Stars, Lagos Warriors, Yudunde Giants and Libreville Izobe Dragons.
Brand Ambassador
editAFA Sports on 27 August 2019 announced Nigeria's point guard Ezinne Kalu as their brand ambassador. This came after the Nigeria Women's Basketball Team, won the FIBA 2019 Afro Basket Tournament for the 2nd time in a row and Ezinne was named the most valuable player of the tournament.[15][16]
Products
editAFA CTG 1
editThe CTG 1 is AFA's first sneaker. It is a basketball sneaker and is made of Contour Traction Grip technology. Its most notable feature is the Map of Africa embossed on the sole. The CTG1 was launched in 2017 and was first featured by the Nigerian's Women's basketball team at the 2017 Women Afro Basket Competition.[14]
AFA L-IV
editAFA sports named this tracksuit the L-IV as a representation of the concept of the 54 African countries. The tracksuit has the flag of the fifty-four African countries printed on it.
AFA has a range of other products such as basketballs, headbands, lifestyle sneakers, polo and hoodies.
References
edit- ^ Media, Global Group (2018-12-07). "Rising Africa Series". Forbes Africa. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ Nlebem, Anthony (6 May 2018). "'AFA Sports on a rescue mission for African sports'". businessday.ng. Archived from the original on 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ admin (2018-05-10). "AFA Sports: Changing the Face of African Sports". THISDAYLIVE. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "AFA Sports Releases New Jerseys for D'Tigers – NBBF, Nigeria Basketball Federation". www.basketballnigeria.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "Check out the new jerseys for Nigeria's basketball team". www.pulse.ng. 2018-02-23. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "AFA Sports releases new jerseys for D' Tigers". businessday.ng. 22 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "AFA SPORTS has been confirmed as the official Jersey sponsor of the Nigeria Female National Team – Continental sports and entertainment". Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ Okpara, Christian (28 September 2018). "AFA remembers early days as D'Tigress battle U.S." guardian.ng. Archived from the original on 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "Afrobasket: AFA Sports unveils jersey for D'Tigress". The Nation Newspaper. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "AfroBasket: D'Tigress unveil new kits". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "AFA Sports unveils the new 2019 D'Tigress Uniforms". AFA Sports Store. 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "Volleyball Nations Cup: AFA Sports partner with federation to kit female team". ACLSports. 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ "AFA Sports hails Defenders for making Africa Elite 8". Daily Trust. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ a b "AFA Sports thrilled by Civil Defenders' Africa Elite Eight feat". guardian.ng. 20 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-03-21. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ BellaNaija.com (2019-08-27). "Ezinne Kalu becomes AFA Sports' Ambassador as "D'Tigress" celebrates Victory Against Host Team, Senegal". BellaNaija. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
- ^ "2019 Women's Afrobasket final MVP Ezinne Kalu becomes AFA Sports Ambassador". www.pulse.ng. 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2019-10-12.