Business came to a standstill in Blantyre on Saturday as the basketball fraternity came out in full force to celebrate the launch of the fourth edition of the National Bank of Malawi plc (NBM) Mo626 College Basketball tournament.
The launching ceremony started with a parade from NBM Towers all the way to Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes) Sports Complex through Masauko Chipembere Highway.
The parade was a colourful event, with over 15 Land Rovers and other vehicles being driven behind chanting and dancing members of the basketball fraternity, who were guided through the route by traffic police.
The climax of the ceremony was at Kuhes Sports Complex where six teams battled it out for glory in both the ladies’ and men’s categories during exhibition matches.
Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) won the ladies’ category final following a 21-5 victory over Kuhes while the men’s crown went to Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, who defeated Must 55-44.
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The winners received K300,000 while the runners-up got K150,000.
NBM Head of Digital Financial Services William Kaunda said their partnership with
Basketball Association of Malawi (Basmal) in running the competition has helped to build good relations between their brand and university student bodies as well as the entire sporting fraternity.
“In the period within its implementation, Mo626 College Basketball has become a tool for fostering inter-university student interaction. Mo626 College Basketball has been well aligned with other assets that the bank already has with university students’ bodies which include the Best Students Awards and scholarship programmes.
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“Over and above, Mo626 College Basketball has helped position the NBM plc brand as one that is committed to the development of youths and sports. Further to this, Mo626 Basketball has helped raise the bank’s visibility through extensive coverage and fostered good relations between the bank and media practitioners in the sporting fraternity,” Kaunda said.
He said, in 2022, the bank renewed its commitment to sponsoring the competition with the intention of increasing engagement with the youth and enabling awareness of the bank’s youth-centred products and services.
Basmal president Chief Masabane Jere said the entire basketball family is grateful to NBM for its continued support.
“Money is not easy to find nowadays because of the tough economic times that the whole world is going through. We depend on such partners to keep the game going. This will help us to grow basketball into a household game. We are, therefore, very grateful to National Bank for this unprecedented sponsorship,” he said.
Late last year, NBM unveiled a K450 million three-year sponsorship package for the competition from the previous K63 million.
Prize money for the winners, runners-up and third-placed teams has also gone up to K5 million, K3 million and K2 million, respectively, from K2.5 million, K1.5 million and K750,000.
Out of the K150 million annual sponsorship package, K50 million has been allocated to court facelifts at selected participating colleges, with the University of Malawi and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources benefitting this year.
The bank also unveiled musician, entrepreneur and influencer Sindiso ‘Hayze Engolah’ Msungama as the competition’s ambassador.
