Jiya trying to showcase basketball skill with college basketball players in his office

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc top bosses Tuesday hosted team captains of the Mo626 College Basketball ‘elite four’ ahead of the last four games of competition which starts today in Lilongwe.

NBM plc Chief Executive Officer Macfussy Kawawa and Deputy Chief Executive Officer Harold Jiya hosted the captains at their offices in the NBM Towers and Business Complex in Blantyre to wish them well in the third season of the NBM plc sponsored Mo626 College Basketball competition.

NBM plc Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Akossa Hiwa said they invited representatives of some of the teams that will play in the upcoming games to NBM plc, just so they could catch up with them on how well training is progressing.

“The CEO and Deputy CEO equally wanted to meet and wish our college athletes well for the upcoming games. They congratulated them for making it past the top 8 and learnt a few basketball skills themselves from the athletes.”

“As the Bank of the Nation, NBM plc values its diverse clientele, and the youth are a part of this. We actively engage the youth through different initiatives, products and services and it was a pleasure to have them in the Executive Wing of the NBM plc towers in the two highest offices of the Bank. We took them out to lunch thereafter and shared lively moments with them. Dare I add that the college athletes were very inspired by the engagement with our CEO and Deputy CEO,” said Hiwa.

She said the excitement both within competing universities and among NBM plc employees has grown tremendously this week towards the count down to the finale on Saturday.

The final phase of the third season of the Mo626 College Basketball comes to an end this weekend with the ‘elite four’ games which starts today at the African Bible College (ABC) Blue Gym in Lilongwe.

Kawawa (left) plays basketball with one of the captains in his NBM Towers office

The finals of the K63.5 million tourney will be played at the same venue on Saturday.

The ‘elite four’ games will see MAGU She-wolves, UNIMA Lady Hawks, Bunda Olivettes and Kuhesi Ganglions battling for honours in the ladies category while Mubas wildcats, MAGU Wolves, Unima Hawks and Bunda Buffaloes fighting for supremacy in the men’s category.

Basketball association of Malawi (Basmal) vice president Banthari Banda said they are excited with the level of competition that has been displayed in the third edition of the competition as they will have new winners since past winners (MCA LL Men- 1st and 2nd edition, ABC Lioness & ZIMA- 1st & 2nd edition respectively) are nowhere near the final top 4 teams.

“BASMAL is pretty much prepared for the finals as all semi-final games in both categories will be played on Friday from 15:00 hrs. at ABC Blue Gym with the last game of the day scheduled for 21hrs. 3rd place playoffs and Finals shall be played on Saturday from 9am at the same venue.”

“We are thankful to our sponsors NBM plc for setting the standards because the college competitions are creating a lot of scholarships to student players from both local and international colleges thereby creating intellectuals, disciplined individuals and future leaders through basketball. It’s our hope that NBM plc will renew the partnership with BASMAL that has come at the end of the MOU that was signed in 2017,” said Banda.

“BASMAL Vision is to make basketball everybody’s game, so we’re appealing to the general public, especially parents, to bring their kids to watch exciting basketball games that will be displayed on the day,” added Banda.

Jiya (left) with one of the Captains

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