Nairobi schools emerge Jr. NBA M-Pesa National Champions
Reading Time: 3min | Sat. 12.04.25. | 12:00
The camp brought together 100 of the country’s most promising U16 players—50 boys and 50 girls, selected from regional tournaments
The Jr. NBA M-Pesa National Finals came to a spirited conclusion on Friday, 11 April, at Aga Khan Academy Mombasa, as top youth basketball talent from across Kenya delivered a thrilling showcase of skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
St. John’s Korogocho and Olympic Junior School, both from Nairobi, were crowned national champions in the boys’ and girls’ categories, respectively, capping a competitive journey that began with regional qualifiers in February.
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These finals followed the Jr. NBA M-Pesa Elite Top 100 Camp, also held earlier in the week in Mombasa.
The camp brought together 100 of the country’s most promising U16 players—50 boys and 50 girls, selected from regional tournaments held in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu, along with additional scouting across other regions.
In the boys’ final, St. John’s Korogocho defeated hosts Aga Khan Academy Mombasa 30–23, with Moses Ochieng named Boys MVP.
The girls’ final saw Olympic Junior School edge past Oasis Shelter Girls (Nyanza) in a tense 19–16 showdown, led by Girls MVP Brenda Akinyi.
Both winning teams had earlier triumphed at the Nairobi Regional Tournament held at Sabis International School on February 22nd and 23rd, showcasing early signs of championship form.
Speaking after the National Finals, Coach Ezra Alenga of Olympic said: “The future is to use this victory to inspire everyone who plays basketball in Kibra, coming from humble beginnings to believing they can actually do it... we want to show them it's possible. I hope these girls will inspire that kind of message to the rest of the people in Kibra in Nairobi and I hope they inspire more to join the game of basketball.”
Coach Brian Busaka of St. John’s added: “We are going to continue putting in the work, more training, get more players on board and try to transition what we have done to the other players... So, we keep working.”
Both were awarded Coach of the Year honours.
The Jr. NBA M-Pesa programme has reached over 15,000 youth nationwide through tournaments, roadshows, coach clinics, and its financial literacy curriculum via M-Pesa Go.
Victor Odada, Head of Payments and Financial Services at Safaricom PLC, highlighted the financial literacy impact of the program, saying: “Ensuring that they now fully understand the concept of digital money/mobile money and how to use it, the pitfalls of it and what they could potentially do with it.... I think that's the important piece.”
NBA Kenya, Country Operations Lead, Michael Finley, on the other hand, noted: “We've broken ground on a program that I think is going to change the trajectory of the game in Kenya forever. The key is going down to younger ages and getting them to play and getting them something that is aspirational for young people to play for. Now young people know there's a Jr. NBA program that's running across the country thanks to M-Pesa-Go, M-Pesa and Safaricom and thanks to the NBA.”
