La BASE Academy’s (LBA) INFRA & Organic Farming Plan

Project supported by Esther Niamké

At Monny Esther Niamké’s initiative, a former French professional basketball player born in Côte d'Ivoire, La Base was established in 2016. The nonprofit sporting association located in Côte d'Ivoire at Monnyville in view of developing, training and supporting the African young on the academic and social plan using basketball.

INFRA Plan is a project to build a basketball complex in Adiaké, Côte d’Ivoire, combining sporting, academic and agricultural courses. Built for young talents aged 13 to 18, the academy aims at facilitating access to education, upgrading the quality of the course and promoting young people’s employability through sport. The project’s total budget is estimated at 108, 255 € for a 3-year period from 2021 to 2024.

Context

The practice of basketball is growing more and more popular in Africa. Côte d’Ivoire is packed with multitudinous young talents capable of playing in the biggest national and international professional contests. They are, however, held back by a lack of means and opportunities, limited access to a certified coaching and/or to appropriate materials and infrastructure.

In this background, La Base undertakes to assist these young talents, often born in poorer families, in their development by building an innovative complex likely to host 500 young talents in the end. The academy shall consist of 3 training grounds, a floor in accordance with FIBA standards, a multi-sport field, an administrative building, some classrooms and dormitories for the academy’s boarders.

Besides the academic and sporting training, emphasis shall be mainly laid on teaching the agricultural trades so as to foster employability and contribute to the development and growth of these young talents.

Objectives

Improve the health conditions of populations through sport and their access to healthcare regardless of age
Promotion of quality education: developing the transversal skills of students and teachers, those that will facilitate learning, open up to the challenges of the world, promote inclusion and allow a climate free from violence.
Promote gender equality
Sustainable investment in infrastructure and innovation as a key driver of economic growth and development
Create career and business opportunities, secure and affordable housing, and build resilient societies and economies
Enable governments, the private sector and civil society to mobilise around principles, mutual aid and common values

Activities

Organisation of summer camps, annual tournaments and detection days in Côte d’Ivoire and in the sub-regions
Training young people and awarding scholarships in collaboration with French, Canadian and American universities / academies
Development of a training program on the development of organic farming professions in Côte d’Ivoire
Christmas camp and international 3×3 tournament
Sports training (mini basketball) for schools and experimental training, promotion of good practices for all
Actions aimed at changing sexist and homophobic behavior and promoting the educational values of sport
Partnerships with amateur / professional teams and local and / or international associations for the development of basketball practice in Africa

Impacts

500 Academy students shall be welcome, trained and assisted in their academic and sports curriculum in the end;
5 young talents shall be offered each year a scholarship to Canada or to the United States with the possibility of integrating an élite sporting programme;
11 young talents, 2 of whom being girls, have already been granted scholarships abroad thanks to support from the association;
Promoting the employability of the youths from the poorer quarters of Côte d’Ivoire thanks to sport;
Rolling out sustainable development projects in the fields of stockbreeding and agriculture;
Annual financial endowment to Sainte Marie Moisan de Koumassi School (which had 36 employees, 513 students in 2019) to provide a quality education to the poorer students.