Nigeria’s Masai Ujiri Joins Serena Williams as Co-Owners of Toronto Tempo

 

Masai Ujiri, one of the most respected executives and visionaries in global basketball, has joined the Toronto Tempo as a Principal Owner.

Ujiri joins in a Principal ownership role alongside Serena Williams.

As the architect of the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA Championship and founder of Giants of Africa, Ujiri has dedicated his career to empowering global communities through sport while championing women’s empowerment, equity, and opportunity at every level of leadership and development.

Now, as an owner of the Toronto Tempo, he brings that same vision to developing the next generation of leaders in women’s basketball in Canada and around the world.

“As an honourary Canadian, I’m excited to be part of the Tempo team as I believe they are building something truly historic — a franchise that represents not only Canada, but the future of basketball,” said Ujiri. “I believe deeply in the vision behind the Tempo: creating female leaders, elevating women not just on the court, but across the organization, and building a championship culture from day one. This is more than just a new team — it’s a defining moment in women’s basketball globally.”

Ujiri’s commitment to advancing women in sport comes to life through Tempo Rising, an innovative global coaching mentorship program launching today in collaboration with the Tempo. A first-of-its-kind initiative, Tempo Rising supports emerging women-identifying and non-binary coaches at the introduction-to-competition level who are shaping the future of the game in their communities.

The programme offers exclusive access to mentorship, professional development, and hands-on coaching experiences, guided by Masai Ujiri alongside General Manager Monica Wright Rogers and Head Coach Sandy Brondello, with a focus on value-driven coaching, community impact, and long-term growth. Interested candidates can apply here.

“Masai’s leadership, his vision, and his deep belief in the power of sport make him an extraordinary addition to our ownership group,” said Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman of Kilmer Sports Ventures. “In his role as a Principal Owner, his influence and values align perfectly with what Tempo stands for — equity, excellence, and purpose. Together, we will continue to build a franchise that reflects the best of what sport can do for communities here in Canada and around the world.”

This Day

Why Nigeria's Kunle Afolayan believes YouTube is key to the future of African filmmaking

Nigerian producer and director Kunle Afolayan is optimistic. He believes new technologies and platforms can open a wealth of opportunities for filmmakers across Africa.

“I don’t think that building more multiplexes is the solution to distribution,” he says. “It’s more looking at new innovations. An average teen would hardly go to the cinema. They sleep on their phone. How do you take film to them?

“I believe in cinema, I love cinema, I grew up with cinema. But I don’t think it should be rigid. We should allow some sort of flexibility that gives room for different platforms to get the film to the people. The ticket prices in cinemas are exorbitant, even in Africa. People will always find cheaper ways to watch the film. They’ll pirate it. A lot of Nigerians are now opening channels on YouTube. They make films, and they take them straight to YouTube.”

Afolayan is one of Nollywood’s most renowned filmmakers, credited as a leading proponent of the New Nigerian Cinema movement, thanks to titles including 2006 supernatural thriller Irapada and 2010’s The Figurine, which won best film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. His pictures began to find an international audience when Netflix licensed his 2014 thriller October 1. In 2021, he landed a three-year deal to produce three films in Nigeria as Netflix Originals: Swallow, Aníkúlápó and Ijogbon.

The filmmaker is grateful for the global platform the streamers have given to African filmmaking, even if they have recently pulled back on commissioning in the region.

“It was a struggle for African films to get selected in major festivals, except if it’s a co-production project,” he says. “Then Netflix came, and that changed things. Films were taken to the global scene.”

Afolayan also recognises the streamers’ investment in local talent: “We have a school [Kunle Afolayan Productions Film and Television Academy, or KAP] on which Netflix partnered and brought the University of Southern California on board to equip training rooms.”

The relationship Afolayan has forged with Netflix is continuing. The second season of an Aníkúlápó spin‑off series premiered on the platform in English-speaking territories at the end of January.

Attracting partners

The filmmaker is keen to encourage more international productions to look to Nigeria and Africa for filming opportunities. He points to the production and accommodation facilities he funded and founded, KAP Hub in Lagos and KAP Film Village in Igbojaye, Oyo state, as examples of Nigeria’s film infrastructure. He is also keen to express that Western media reports of violent kidnappings are not representative of the whole of Nigeria.

“Most of the places the attacks are happening are in the north,” he clarifies.

Two UK-Nigeria co-productions, both shot in Nigeria, have recently played major film festivals Cannes 2025 Un Certain Regard selection and Bafta winner My Father’s Shadow, from British Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr, and Olive Nwosu’s Sundance 2026 selection Lady. It is a point of frustration for Afolayan that African producers have to co-produce with their Western counterparts to generate interest from festivals, and that ideas originated in Nigeria from Nigeria-based producers are not breaking through.

“The whole country was celebrating, it’s a Nigerian film,” says Afolayan, when word broke that My Father’s Shadow had landed in Cannes last year, billed at the time as the first Nigerian film to do so. “Then, the shocker came [that the film is largely funded and produced out of the UK, with Davies a UK-based filmmaker].”

Afolayan is now in pre-production on a self-funded 10-part series about the Yoruba tribe and its deities, with plans to shoot in Benin and Nigeria. He is also working on a docudrama about his late father, filmmaker and actor Adeyemi Afolayan, and is talking to the Royal African Society in the UK, organiser of London’s Film Africa festival at which Afolayan delivered a masterclass last year, about supporting the project.

Afolayan has been developing the project for around seven years and was struggling to work out how to recreate his father’s likeness, until he experimented using the Meta app. “With AI, the problem is solved.”

By Mona Tabbara, Screen Daily

Nigeria expands telecom investment, to install new 1,000 towers

The Nigerian Government is set to accelerate telecom infrastructure development in rural areas, targeting the installation of 1,000 new telecommunications towers in 2026 as part of a broader strategy to expand digital connectivity and bridge longstanding access gaps.

Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a briefing on the National Digital Economy Research Clusters Programme, part of the World Bank-backed Project BRIDGE.

Tijani revealed that “The president has approved 3,700 towers nationwide… we are working to deliver at least 1,000 of these this year,” noting that more than 20 million Nigerians remain in areas without any form of connectivity.

He explained that the tower rollout is part of a broader digital infrastructure strategy, which includes deploying 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic network across all states, local governments, and wards. “If we have a ubiquitous fibre network across Nigeria, complaints about service quality will change completely… true connectivity requires fibre,” Tijani emphasized.

The government’s strategy also includes upgrading communication satellites and expanding digital access, a combination the minister described as unprecedented among developing countries.

Tijani highlighted the launch of the National Digital Economy Research Clusters, a university-led initiative designed to support evidence-based policymaking. Each of the six clusters will bring together leading academics, supported by postdoctoral researchers and PhD candidates, with over 200 researchers expected to contribute over three years.

Backed by N12 billion over three years, the programme is intended to generate data-driven insights to guide both government and private sector decisions. International collaborations are expected to complement domestic research efforts.

On governance, Tijani said the clusters will operate under a structured framework with the communications and education ministries, alongside independent management to ensure transparency and accountability.

The minister also noted that the digital economy’s contribution to GDP has risen to nearly 20 per cent, with a target of 21 per cent next year. He highlighted flagship initiatives such as the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, which aims to build technology capacity across all 774 local government areas.

Nigeria continues to attract Africa’s largest telecom investment inflows, with operations of major firms in the country exceeding those in their home markets.

Tijani further revealed that the Digital Economy Bill is before the National Assembly to provide a unified legal framework, alongside plans for a national data exchange system, AI strategy, and digital postcode system to enhance service delivery and commerce.

He added that Nigeria ranks 35th globally in policy capacity, anchored by the National Strategy, and 49th in development and diffusion, reflecting growing strength in research, talent, and innovation.

The minister linked the research clusters to Project BRIDGE, a programme that includes 90,000 kilometres of fibre-optic network and 3,700 towers to expand rural connectivity. “If we have a ubiquitous fibre network across Nigeria, the complaints today about connectivity quality will change completely,” he said.

Each cluster will operate under annual targets for publications, workshops, and training.

Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, said the initiative reflects the government’s commitment to repositioning Nigeria’s education system to support economic growth, prioritizing connectivity for schools and hospitals. He disclosed a $2 billion World Bank facility to fund fibre expansion.

The research clusters are expected to address digital governance, online safety, job creation, and agricultural innovation, while building capacity among postgraduate researchers. Alausa emphasized that the programme would catalyze further investment and stimulate entrepreneurship through equity-free student grants.

Academic leaders, including the Vice-Chancellors of Olabisi Onabanjo University and Ajayi Crowther University, commended the initiative, noting its potential to accelerate digital transformation, reduce brain drain, and integrate universities fully into the digital economy.

The planned rollout is part of the government’s broader 3,700-tower rural connectivity plan, initially announced in December 2025, which aims to connect millions of Nigerians currently without reliable mobile or internet access.

Tijani said the clusters are designed to address key areas including connectivity, digital public infrastructure, skills development, jobs, consumer protection, and artificial intelligence. “The digital economy is a knowledge-driven sector. We cannot rely only on ideas developed elsewhere. We must generate our own insights, rooted in our realities,” he said.

The initiative reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to expand the digital economy, which has grown from contributing 16–18 per cent of GDP when the current administration took office to nearly 20 per cent today, on track to meet the government’s 21 per cent target.

The growth has been supported by investments in talent development, infrastructure expansion through Project BRIDGE and NUCAP, and strengthened space and communications capabilities, including the approval of two new satellites.

Tijani emphasized that universities must evolve beyond teaching to become engines of problem-solving. He cited previous government-supported research efforts in artificial intelligence, which produced 27 peer-reviewed publications from 45 funded projects in 2023 alone, as evidence of Nigeria’s growing research capacity.

“The Digital Economy Research Clusters will bring together universities, researchers, and global partners into focused clusters that directly inform policy and innovation,” Tijani explained. He highlighted that the clusters aim to build long-term research capacity, strengthen policy, and deepen Nigeria’s ability to adopt and deploy technology effectively.

The launch represents a major step toward ensuring that Nigeria not only adopts emerging technologies but also generates the research and talent needed to shape and influence the global digital landscape.

“It’s not just about the 200 researchers. It’s the cascading effect that will happen afterwards. The initiative won’t stop here; it will continue to grow from what we’re starting today,” he said.

Business Day