National Bank injects K450m in Mo626 Basketball tournament
The Mo626 College Basketball Championship has become one of the most lucrative sports competitions in the country after National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc yesterday increased sponsorship for the next three years to K450 million.
This is K295 million more than the K155 million initial three-year package that expired last season.
During the unveiling ceremony in Blantyre, NBM marketing and corporate affairs manager Akossa Hiwa said they have revised the package, which translates to K150 million annually, after considering inflation following the recent devaluation of the local currency.
She said part of the sponsorship will go towards the construction and rehabilitation of basketball courts in colleges as the bank also wants to leave a lasting legacy in the sport’s infrastructure development.
Hiwa said: “Today, we stand before you to reaffirm our commitment to our youthful stakeholders and announce that we will continue to work with Basmal [Basketball Association of Malawi] in the administration of Mo626 College Basketball for the next three years.
“I am also honoured to announce that we have revised our sponsorship to K450 million within a three year period. This amount will cover administration of games. It will also cover the rehabilitation and building of basketball courts in selected tertiary education institutions.”
She said the bank has faith in supporting college basketball as it nurtures players in the tertiary education institutions, where positive values of discipline, determination, focus and teamwork blossom and deeply manifest.
“This is what we advocate for to have responsible youths that leave college to build our economy. From what we have seen so far, this tournament has unearthed hidden talent among our university students who have been very competitive,” she said.
Hiwa further disclosed that the bank intends to continue bankrolling the tournament to help achieve its targets on youth-focused products and services as they have an array of offerings such as the Student Save Account and the Mo626 ice/digital +, which creates value for students.
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes) Ganglions player Victoria Mphangwe, who represented the players, said the improved sponsorship is a big motivation.
“We are very excited with this news as it will encourage us to work hard and be competitive in our games. This is worth celebrating,” she said.
Basmal vice-president Banthari Banda thanked the bank for the increased package and continued sponsorship, describing it as an early Christmas gift.
“This is something extraordinary. We are very grateful to the bank for the continued support and we will do our part to appreciate this by promoting the NBM brand,” he said.
Banda explained that they will sit down to see how the competition’s prizes will be revised following the increased sponsorship.
NBM plc first signed a three-year partnership with Basmal in 2017 to develop basketball as a minority sport at tertiary education level. Initially, the deal was supposed to be K30 million per season, but it was upped to K62.5 million per season in the next two seasons.
