AFA Sports: How Ugo Udezue built Africa’s homegrown sportswear brand

What began as a small idea in Lagos has grown into one of Africa’s most enduring commitments to basketball and sports development. AFA Sports, founded by former NBA agent and Continental Basketball League (CBL) executive Ugo Udezue, has become a symbol of resilience, innovation, and national pride.

Udezue recalls that the idea for AFA Sports was born in 2016 while he was running the CBL. Despite his global connections, he struggled to secure an international apparel sponsor.

‘Global sportswear companies had little interest in African basketball without guaranteed television exposure, commercial scale, or political certainty. None of that existed then. So, I made a decision. If the system did not support the game, the game would have to support itself,’ he explained.

AFA Sports was conceived as a homegrown solution, not a shortcut.

‘As an Igbo man, ‘Afa’ means name. One day, the question became obvious: what name should I give this idea? AFA Sports: Africa, for Africa. That same night, around 2am, I had a vivid dream of the logo. I woke up and sketched it immediately. That was the beginning,’ Udezue said.

With no prior training in apparel manufacturing, Udezue traveled to China to learn directly from trade fairs, factories, and shop owners. He taught himself logistics, inventory management, and Nigerian business governance through trial and error.

‘Many nights stretched into days without sleep,’ he recalled.

Financial backing was another challenge until Musa Kida stepped in. Before becoming President of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF), Kida had already helped rescue the CBL from collapse.

‘When I later pitched AFA Sports to him, he committed, in one day, to becoming a co-founder and partner. He believed in the idea because he understood sustainability,’ Udezue said.

Kida’s only caveat was that AFA Sports must manufacture its products in Nigeria, empowering local labour and contributing to the economy.

By 2017, AFA Sports had become the official apparel supplier to Nigeria’s national basketball teams. That year, the women’s team faced a crisis ahead of AfroBasket in Mali, with no uniforms due to disputes with former kit partners.

‘My team designed, produced, and delivered full kits in three days. We sent staff to Mali to hand-deliver the uniforms, at high cost to AFA Sports,’ Udezue recounted.

NBBF Vice President Babs Ogunade explained how the partnership came about.

‘We had issues with Peak, our kit partners, and were branded illegal by the previous administration. The only alternative was to fall back to late Usman, a jersey tailor. That was how we got AFA.

‘Musa Kida made it clear he could not get involved because he had an interest in AFA. I headed the negotiations and signed eventually. We were in a tight corner, and we all agreed to go,’ Ogunade said.

The arrangement was a four-year supply-only deal, with no financial compensation. ‘We receive for free and wear to play,’ Ogunade added.

Despite the lack of broadcast exposure and commercial incentives, Udezue insisted AFA Sports continued ‘out of belief, not profit.’

He explained: ‘Since then, AFA Sports has supplied the women’s team consistently and supported the men’s team only when requested, again without financial incentive. This was an investment in national pride and brand credibility, not a revenue stream.’

Beyond basketball, AFA Sports has supported Nigerian volleyball, Paralympic athletes, and other federations, often providing equipment and apparel free of charge.

The company was also the official apparel partner for Team Nigeria at the Tokyo Olympic Games, supplying athletics gear at no cost.

‘These were not profitable undertakings,’ Udezue admitted. ‘Over time, AFA Sports evolved, by necessity, into a broader lifestyle, fitness, and performance brand. That evolution is standard globally and essential for survival.’