Promoting girls’ empowerment through basketball in Angola

Driven by a national team that is one of the most successful in the Africa men’s and women’s championships, basketball dominates in Angola. Its influence even reaches schools and public spaces, where it is very popular among urban young people from deprived neighborhoods.

This is the case in Cazenga in Luanda, where persistent poverty and strong social tensions hinder the institutionalization of basketball. The sport continues to be mainly played informally, as shown by the low number of players registered in clubs.

Yet Luanda is home to a sports movement with strong potential. The sports partnership between the TPAA, ASVEL and AFD aims to promote women’s basketball as a vehicle for integration and social cohesion.

The project is based on three main components: 

• Support from ASVEL to the Formigas club to improve training conditions: financing of equipment, training of coaches and implementation of a project management system
• Support to the Angolese Federation for the development of women’s and men’s 3X3 basketball in Luanda
• Deployment of a plan to structure a professional women’s basketball league in Angola, through a partnership with French companies operating in the country that finance scholarships for certain players from the Angolese club  

The resources made available will be used for studies and technical assistance from the TPAA and ASVEL, which will mobilize their internal expertise for the implementation of these three components. 

• Promotion of gender equality by offering girls and women a space for inclusive expression
• A boost for basketball, especially among women, by improving sports opportunities  
• Coaches and sports educators trained in how to use sport as a tool for education
• Promotion of the professionalization of basketball to improve job prospects for young people