Masai Ujiri co-founder of Giants of Africa (L) and H E President Paul Kagame (R) at the launch of the festival in Kigali in February this year
Kigali: Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, Giants of Africa, has decided to postpone the inaugural Giants of Africa Festival 2020, scheduled for August 16 – 22, 2020, in Kigali, Rwanda to 2021.
The health and welfare of our partners, coaches, youth participants, vendors, along with the local communities we serve, is our highest priority. For the past several weeks our leadership team has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and speaking with our partners and state officials on the ground in Rwanda. While this is a tough decision, we are committed to following the guidelines and protocols set forth by the World Health Organization.
“One of the goals of the festival is to bring together all the diverse cultures that make up Africa to Rwanda. Social distancing is one of the tools to help fight this pandemic and coming together would contradict everything our healthcare experts are stressing we all do to help slow down this pandemic,” says Masai Ujiri, Co-Founder of Giants of Africa and President of the Toronto Raptors, “the youth of Africa deserve our very best and in 2021 the festival will deliver just that, our very best.”
Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board said: “Rwanda is focused on combatting Covid-19 and its socio-economic impact on our people. We have had to put a lot of important events on hold but work to maintain our readiness as a MICE destination when this crisis is over. Our nation’s leadership has been invaluable in the response to ensure we beat this pandemic. We look forward to welcoming the inaugural Giants of Africa Festival in Kigali next year.”
The inaugural GOA Festival was bringing together youth from 11 countries in Africa to Kigali, Rwanda for a week-long celebration of basketball, education, culture, and entertainment. We are saddened that we had to postpone, but encouraged that we now have the time to broaden the experience for our campers in 2021. Much continues to change regarding COVID-19 and its impact on our everyday lives.
The GOA team is dedicated to its mission to use basketball as a means to educate and enrich the lives of African youth and is working on alternative programs for 2020, while social distancing, to accomplish our mission virtually. We invite our supporters to join our newsletter and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on GOA news and updates. (End)