Regional basketball top-level event gets Stanbic backing

September 21, 2017 in Communications, Companies, Investment by Editor

September 21—Stanbic Bank Uganda (SBU) has climbed aboard the high-profile sponsorship bandwagon that is helping to make basketball one of the most popular spectator sports in the country.

Recently, the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) and City Oilers, unveiled their corporate partners for the upcoming FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championships.

Daniel Ogong, the SBU Head of Marketing said, “We are proud to be associated with such likeminded corporate companies who have a great belief in the development of sports and its power to transform lives.”

Four-time National Basketball League (NBL) defending champions, City Oilers, were granted the rights to host the regional clubs flagship tournament. They are also defending national champions and have enlisted their parent company Mandela Group, along with banking giant SBU, Linglong Tyres, Emirates and oil giant, ENOC as sponsors for this year’s edition in Kampala.

Ogong said, “Ugandan teams, especially the Oilers, have performed very well in this tournament in the past and I am confident this run will continue. I encourage Ugandan basketball fans to come out and support the Oilers as they defend their title against what is certain to be very stiff opposition.”

The tournament, which takes place during the first week of October at the Lugogo Indoor Arena, will bring together 19 teams from eight member countries namely Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia and Tanzania.

The hosts City Oilers will be staging a defense of the men’s title which they won in Dar-es-Salaam last year while Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will defend the ladies crown.

City Oilers was founded in 2011 and got promoted to the first division in the same year, before going on to win the division and gain promotion to the NBL at its first attempt. The Oilers won the NBL in their inaugural season in 2013 and have won the league every year since.

Uganda last hosted the tournament in 2013 which was won by Rwanda’s Espoir and Kenya’s Eagle Wings in the men and women’s categories respectively.

The winners of both categories qualify for the Champions Cup of Africa (ACC) and the Oilers’ target, the men’s edition, will be hosted in Casablanca, Morocco in December.