NBA Africa announced on Tuesday, Dec. 14, the appointment of Gbemisola Abudu to the newly created position of vice president and country manager for Nigeria, where the American league will open its third office on the African continent in early 2022.
Gbemisola Abudu will head the new NBA Africa office in Lagos and report to NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams, a Sierra Leonean-American.
Gbemisola Abudu, says the NBA, is an accomplished entrepreneur, business leader, luxury marketing expert and social activist with 17 years of experience in business, brand and human capital development in Nigeria, the Middle East and the United States.
In her newly created position, the NBA says, Gbemisola Abudu will be responsible for leading NBA Africa’s basketball and business development initiatives in Nigeria, including grassroots youth programs, elite player development, relationships with current and potential marketing, media and merchandise partners, and social responsibility efforts that improve the lives of youth and families in Nigeria.
Founder of an educational technology finishing school
Gbemisola Abudu is an expert in capacity development, international marketing, consumer and market intelligence, marketing strategy, market entry solutions, etc. She is the founder and managing partner of BMGA Enterprise Limited (BMGA), an educational technology finishing school in Lagos and impact consulting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, dedicated to transforming local businesses through marketing and capacity building tools. As part of this effort, it launched the BMGA Fellows Program, a social impact initiative aimed at closing the gender skills gap in Nigeria. The program provides young female university students/graduates with employability skills, high-level professional development courses, mentoring and leadership training. BMGA Enterprise Limited has also developed partnerships with world-class universities.
Prior to joining BMGA, Gbemisola Abudu worked as a global marketing professional for international brands including Louis Vuitton, The Walt Disney Company and The Clorox Company.
Gbemisola Abudu, a dual Nigerian-American citizen, holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, USA, where she is the President of the Nigerian Chapter of the Thunderbird Alumni Association. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Public Relations from the University of Wyoming, USA.
“The opportunity of a lifetime”
Gbemisola Abudu said, “Joining NBA Africa as Vice President and Country Manager of Nigeria and opening the league office here is the opportunity of a lifetime and the culmination of all my experiences to date. As a lifelong basketball fan and native Nigerian, I look forward to working with the NBA Africa team to help build a more complete basketball ecosystem in the country and use the transformative power of sport to impact lives in Nigeria and beyond.”
For his part, Victor Williams, CEO of NBA Africa said, “We are thrilled to expand NBA Africa’s operations in Nigeria with the launch of our Lagos office and delighted that Gbemisola is joining us to lead our efforts in the country. As an established business leader, entrepreneur, global marketing expert and social activist, Gbemisola’s expertise will be invaluable in helping us continue to grow basketball and the NBA in a country that already has a strong affinity for the game.”
Improving access to basketball
The NBA, it will be recalled, opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010. Since then, the U.S. league’s efforts in Africa have focused on improving access to basketball and the NBA through grassroots and elite development, media distribution, corporate partnerships, the NBA Africa Games, the launch of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) and more. The BAL, a partnership between the NBA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, will begin its second season in March 2022.
