Wave and the Basketball Africa League (BAL) convened a Business Brunch in Kigali during the BAL Finals, examining how digital finance and sport can expand opportunities for young Africans.
Held during finals week under the theme “Youth, Innovation and Financial Inclusion: Building the Next Generation of African Leaders,” the gathering brought together figures from sport, finance, policy, technology and investment.
Panellists included BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall; Coura Tine Sène, Regional Director and Head of Public Affairs at Wave Mobile Money; Bank of Kigali Chief Executive Dr Diane Karusisi; and Rwanda’s Minister of State for ICT and Innovation, Yves Iradukunda. They discussed how cultural platforms, financial infrastructure, institutional capital and public policy can support youth entrepreneurship and inclusive growth.
Sène said Africa’s “next generation is not waiting for the next opportunity to arrive,” pointing to young people building businesses, communities and culture. She said Wave’s role was to keep financial tools simple, affordable and accessible enough to support that activity in everyday life, and that sport offered a strong platform to reach young people.
Wave provides low-cost digital financial services, including money transfers and payments, across several African markets. The company became Francophone Africa’s first unicorn after a 2021 funding round valued it at 1.7 billion dollars.
The brunch took place during the BAL’s sixth-season finals at Kigali’s BK Arena, where the championship game was scheduled for 31 May. It followed a BAL Innovation Summit held in the city days earlier.
