Basketball Africa League reveals broadcast partners

The Basketball Africa League (BAL), the new competition from the International Basketball Federation and the NBA, has signed deals with broadcast partners. Canal+ and ESPN will air all 26 BAL games across Francophone and Anglophone African countries and territories. BeIN Media Group will air 26 games in Arabic in the Middle East and North Africa and VOA will broadcast 24 games across its multi-language radio network in Africa. Select free-to-air channels throughout Africa will air games, while ESPN has gained US and other international rights.

Heirs Oil & Gas appoints Igiehon as CEO

Heirs Oil & Gas, the Nigerian energy company, has appointed Osayande Igiehon as chief executive officer and named a non-executive board. Igiehon joins from Royal Dutch Shell, where he was previously a vicepresident in The Hague, Netherlands. In January the firm bought a 45% stake in OML 17, a Nigerian onshore oilfield, as part of a deal that it said included $1.1bn in global and regional financing. Veteran Nigerian entrepreneur Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings, is among the board appointments.

Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong pledges R3bn to fight Covid-19 in SA

South African-born US biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong will give an initial R3bn ($213m) to South Africa to enable technology transfer for Covid-19 vaccines and other therapies. One of his companies, ImmunityBio, has agreed a deal to manufacture coronavirus doses with South Africa’s Biovac Institute. SoonShiong’s family foundation and company will also work with other African countries to enable the development of second-generation vaccine capabilities to address Covid variants and vaccines for other diseases.

EU donates €8m to combat desert locusts in Horn of Africa

The European Union has donated a further €8m ($9.7m) to enable countries in the Horn of Africa to maintain a state of readiness against the threat of desert locusts. The funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations will be used to bridge gaps in procurement, survey, and control operations in the two most-at-risk countries, Ethiopia and Somalia. Recent rainfall has enabled swarms in eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia to mature and lay eggs. The money will also enable a quick response if needs arise in Kenya and Sudan.