Just weeks after projected No. 1 NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg or another prized rookie debuts for the Toronto Raptors at NBA Summer League, their chairman and president Masai Ujiri will proudly make his way to Rwanda for the Giants of Africa Festival 2025 to highlight African youngsters.
Ujiri is hosting the GOA Festival in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 26 to Aug. 2. The GOA Festival is projected to bring 320 young men and women from 20 different African nations together for a week of community, fellowship and competition. GOA Festival 2025 highlights culture, basketball, education, fashion and entertainment, with the goal of serving as a unifying force to inspire change across Africa.
“There are so many things going on in this eight days and it goes fast,” Ujiri told Andscape. “But it was an incredible feeling being at the last one we had. And we’re hoping to make this even better.”
The Nigeria native has long been devoted to promoting and developing the game of basketball throughout Africa. He founded the Giants of Africa organization in 2003 in hopes of creating opportunities through basketball and education. Since then, GOA has built over 37 basketball courts in 11 countries, had over 6,000 kids attend its camps that taught basketball and life skills, and impacted more than 40,000 youth across Africa. GOA was also highlighted in a documentary in 2016 and in December of 2023 celebrated its 20th anniversary in Toronto.
The inaugural GOA Festival took place in Rwanda in the summer of 2023. It included eight days of programming with the likes of famed singers Davido and Tyla performing, more than 14,000 spectators in attendance, more than 2,000 youth participating and more than 50 paid internships. GOA said the event invested $1.5 million U.S. dollars to the local economy in 2023. The GOA Festival 2025 expects to induce $3 million of investment to the local economy over eight days at Kigali Sports City. There will be an opening ceremony, youth boys and girls basketball competitions concluding with All-Star games, sports business forums, coaches clinics, a fashion show, a concert and more. Ujiri is also excited to unveil Zaria Court, a new urban development project in Kigali that he has invested in that has a luxury hotel, restaurants, community space and athletic facilities.
“It’s about seeing Africa as one, and having these kids actually come and really see the other cultures,” Ujiri said. “And we have culture, food, education, entertainment, everything that brings all of us together on the continent. We have talent that shows our strengths. The real talent of Africa is the people, all the people of the continent and its youth.
“The demographic of Africa is incredible. And bringing the youth together through sport is just something that’s special. And the Giants of Africa Festival was very special a couple years ago, and we decided that we would do it again.”
Presidency Of Rwanda/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ujiri has been an executive with the Raptors since 2013, beginning his time there as general manager. The 2013 NBA executive of the year is also a former executive vice-president and GM of the Denver Nuggets. Along with GOA, he has previously been the director the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program. Ujiri left Nigeria to play at Bismarck State College and Montana State University-Billings before playing professionally overseas and ultimately getting into scouting in the NBA first as a part-timer with the Orlando Magic.
Ujiri is hoping that through the GOA Festival and its internships African kids can be inspired to pursue careers in sport.
“I didn’t play in the NBA,” Ujiri said. “I wasn’t talented even enough to play in a higher level in Europe. I bounced from division one to division two teams in Europe. But sports gave me this opportunity to be where I am. And there are so many other youths that are smarter, more talented, millions in Africa. And the demographic just shows that there’s going to be more and more opportunities to come because we are educated enough on the continent, we are talented enough and we just have to create these opportunities. And I’m hoping this business side creates more opportunity as we go from Rwanda and spread out to other countries.”
Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo was viewed as the godfather of African basketball prior to his death in 2024 after a long bout with cancer. Ujiri is one of the main figures in the African basketball scene expected to carry the torch from Mutombo. During 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, Ujiri, Basketball Africa League president Amadou Fall, Dallas Mavericks scout Makhtar Ndiaye, G League Westchester Knicks head coach DeSagana Diop, Indiana Pacers All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and International Olympic Committee director of daily content Benny Bonsu attended a dinner at Nopa where they discussed the future of African basketball with Mutombo on their minds.
“Mutombo was a voice for us,” Ujiri said. “That gathering was to pay respect to somebody that paved the way for all of us. And I know there’s going to be more and more gatherings to respect him even more and more. But with what the Dikembe Mutombo did, it’s really a true loss for us with a person like that. Every day we think about him and that was to celebrate him, that was to appreciate him. That was to bring us all together. We all need to do more now.
“One person can never take over what that guy did because he has some huge, huge shoes for us to fill as we move on in life and try our best. And I’ll always be grateful for being a friend of his. I appreciated that somebody set a tone like that for us in the NBA. When I talk about winning, winning on the court and off the court and bringing people together, that was because of Mutombo.”
The Raptors finished the 2024-25 season with a 30-52 record under head coach Darko Rajaković and missed the playoffs. Toronto’s roster has some talented young players under 25 years old in 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, forward RJ Barrett and sharpshooter Gradey Dick. The Raptors will learn on Monday in Chicago during the NBA Draft Lottery if they can land the draft rights to Flagg, who is widely projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
The Raptors have a 7.5% chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the Draft Lottery. Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists as a true freshman for Duke last season, but the 2025 NBA draft is also top heavy with talent including Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, Baylor swingman V.J. Edgecombe, Maryland big man Derik Queen, Texas guard Tre Johnson, Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears and Duke center Khaman Maluach.
“It’s a good draft and hopefully, wherever we find ourselves, we’ll make the best out of it,” Ujiri said.
Mert Aler Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images
The Raptors also have high hopes for veteran forward Brandon Ingram. The 2020 NBA All-Star agreed to a three-year, $120 million contract extension with the franchise, including a player option in 2027-28 after being traded from the New Orleans Pelicans in February. Ingram has averaged 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game for his career and was hampered by an ankle injury last season. The Raptors have Ingram, Barnes, Barrett, Dick and guard Immanuel Quickley under contract for several upcoming seasons.
Ujiri is hopeful that some of his Raptors players and perhaps other NBA players attend the GOA Festival 2025.
“It was a growing season for us in our rebuild,” Ujiri said. “And the whole team and Darko did an incredible job. Our young players really started to show growth. Scotty as a leader is really coming into his own. And we saw development, whether it was Quickley or RJ Barrett, Ochai [Agbaji] or Gradey Dick, and also with a couple of our veteran players. We hope to grow. This rebuilding process just continues, and the next step is growing even more. With the addition of Brandon Ingram, we continue to build and hopefully we start to see it come together…
“We’re really excited about Brandon. He really attacked his rehab. We’re going to have a really good summer. It was good for Brandon to actually see [the Raptors] from that perspective, watching and really appreciating the young guys, the team, the camaraderie, the coaching, the style, all those things. He was able to observe and we’re appreciative that he signed with us for the future.”
Leave a Reply