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Charlotte set as flagship city for dual-track sports and careers initiative

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – February 25, 2026 – The SEED Project, together with implementation partners the Pan-African Council, Champs for Change, and the Global Africa Business Accelerator (GABA) Center, has taken a major step toward launching the U.S.–Africa Youth Talent Combine and Sports Careers Summit following a high-level Stakeholder Roundtable held during NBA All-Star Week in Los Angeles.

Convened by SEED Project and supported by SEED founder Amadou Gallo Fall, the roundtable brought together HBCU leaders, African and Caribbean diaspora representatives, city officials, impact investors, sports executives, and youth development organizations. The group aligned around the shared goal of using sport as a platform for education, careers, and economic mobility on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dual-track model: on-court and across the ecosystem

The U.S.–Africa Youth Talent Combine and Sports Careers Summit builds on a historical combine model while adding a second, equally weighted track focused on careers:
A high-performance basketball combine for athletes, featuring standardized testing, positional skill work, and 5‑on‑5 evaluations.

A parallel Sports Careers Summit for non‑athlete and multi‑interest youth, offering personality-based career assessments, hands-on labs, shadowing experiences, and mentoring across media, analytics, operations, coaching, entrepreneurship, technology, esports, and sports diplomacy.

“This is about who gets to build the future of sport,” said Fabien Anthony, Chairman of the Pan-African Council. “We are designing a platform where young people can move from fan to professional on the floor, in the boardroom, and across the global economy.”

Charlotte as flagship launch

Roundtable participants endorsed Charlotte, North Carolina as the flagship host city for the first event, subject to final alignment with the Charlotte Hornets and facility partners. The concept calls for:

• A three‑day program at the Hornets’ arena, combining on‑court evaluation and off‑court career exploration.
• HBCU- and city-led learning experiences, using Charlotte’s history with HBCU tournaments and NBA All-Star as a live case study in major event delivery, cultural impact, and local economic benefits.

“Charlotte offers a powerful classroom,” said Kimberly Nelson, CEO of the GABA Center. “Young people will see how a single event mobilizes hundreds of roles from game operations and storytelling to hospitality, technology, finance, healthcare and city planning.”

Centering youth careers in sport

Champs for Change (C4C) will lead design and delivery of the Sports Careers Summit, ensuring non‑athlete youth are full co‑beneficiaries of the program rather than an add‑on.

“Every young person who walks into this experience should leave with a clearer pathway whether that’s in front of the camera, behind the camera, at the scorer’s table, in the startup lab, or leading in their community,” said Memuna Williams, co‑founder of Champs for Change. “We’re building a generation of African and diaspora leaders who see sport as an industry.”

Next steps

SEED Project and its partners agreed to a 90‑day roadmap that includes finalizing dates and space requirements with the Charlotte Hornets, refining the combine and Summit curriculum, mapping industry roles to HBCU and African university programs, and structuring a shared sponsorship and scholarship fund. A post-meeting report, recording these commitments was circulated among project stakeholders on February 24.

“This initiative is a movement to build prosperity across the continent, elevate youth through mentorship and professionalism, and integrate African talent into global value chains,” the partners said in a joint statement.

About the project partners

SEED Project (Sports for Education and Economic Development) is an International NGO that uses education and basketball to develop the next generation of socially conscious African leaders that have the tools to lead their country. Learn more at seedproject.org.

Pan-African Council (PAC) is the premier global leadership and strategic development organization dedicated to elevating Africa and her Diaspora on the world stage. Guided by its multi-faceted approach, the Council bridges political divides through diplomatic engagement; unlocks shared prosperity by fostering economic opportunities; and empowers communities with targeted social initiatives. Learn more at panafricancouncil.org.

Champs for Change (C4C) is a pan‑African social enterprise that supports young people who want to build careers in sport, both on and off the field. Through resources, mentoring, training, connection to networks and collaboration, C4C helps the people behind the game turn passion for sport into real education, work, and entrepreneurship opportunities. Learn more at champs4change.org and share your interest in working with C4C here.

The GABA Center (Global Africa Business Accelerator) is the diplomatic and commercial bridge connecting the United States, Africa, and the global diaspora. Through its four strategic pillars, Capacity Building, Workforce Development, Venture Building, and Ecosystem Building, GABA delivers integrated programming that strengthens local economies and opens global pathways for entrepreneurs, investors, and institutions. Learn more at gabacenter.com.

Media contacts

SEED Project – info@seedproject.org
Pan-African Council – media@panafricancouncil.org
Champs for Change – info@champs4change.org
GABA Center – pr@gabacenter.com

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Queuing The Century of Prosperity

LOME, TOGO – December 15, 2025 – The Pan-African Council is honored to have contributed to the 9th Pan-African Congress hosted by the Republic of Togo and the African Union, 125 years after the inaugural summons in London. To witness the closing of one historical epoch and the violent birth of another during this timely and momentous occasion, represents a fundamental turning point in the dialogue of human development. The world is witnessing the dissolution of old hegemonies and the emergence of a new economic paradigm, where Africa’s role on the global stage is finally being defined not by its capacity to endure history, but by its undeniable power to shape it.

During the Congress, Council Chairman Fabien Anthony offered a 4-pillar, Pragmatic Pan-African Action Plan for a Multipolar World in his plenary discourse to nudge Global Africa in the right direction, this included:

1. Defining African rejuvenation from struggle to sovereignty:
   This is an act of reclaiming narrative and demanding agency. It requires moving conceptually from the historical necessity of struggle to the imperative of sovereignty. The 21st century must, therefore, be unequivocally declared Africa’s Century of Prosperity—a designation that mandates a profound ideological and policy shift. This means replacing the limiting discourse of poverty reduction with the proactive ambition of comprehensive wealth creation, demanding sustained and integrated capital formation across every sphere: intellectual, social, physical, spiritual, and financial.
2. Navigating the complexities of a dynamic multipolar landscape:
   Recent geopolitical shifts present Africa with a paradox; unprecedented opportunities to leverage its strategic importance, alongside acute vulnerabilities to new forms of economic dependency and geopolitical maneuvering. African countries will need to shift from a passive recipient of external solutions and development models to becoming an active negotiator setting new terms of engagement.
3. Freeing the youth:
   With a median age of 24 years old in our Africa Equity Group portfolio of 5,000+ businesses and projects financed to date, we must massively scale access to seed funding, strategic capital, and entrepreneurial ecosystems that allow for young entrepreneurs, startups, and enterprises to thrive. The definitive financing of this structural transformation must be anchored in the decisive mobilization of the African diaspora, complementing important Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows by leveraging the sub-class of Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI) to seamlessly translate current consumption remittances into a structured, sovereign source of development capital. This necessitates the parallel issuance of intentional financial instruments, such as Continent-Wide Diaspora Bonds and Investment Funds, to securitize this wealth. To facilitate deployment and scale, the continent must urgently prioritize the simplification and harmonization of business policies across the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), coupled with the creation of a continent-wide skills bank and mentorship network designed to optimize human capital flow and accelerate the transfer of essential technology and knowledge to African firms and SMEs.
4. Accountability:
   We must stop planning in short, reactive cycles. Our plans must be backed by a public, transparent and long-term Pan-African scorecard that measures: Economic integration, diaspora integration, resource control, human development, value-added industrialization, technological sovereignty, institutional resilience, among others. We must move beyond the era of rhetorical declarations to an era of empirical verification, where progress is judged not by the aspirational GDP of individual nations, but by the granular reality of our collective structural transformation.

PAC also joined the 4th Commission Working Group, titled ‘Reinventing African Citizenship,’ to contribute strategic recommendations. This collaborative effort culminated in the inclusion of the group’s findings in the FINAL DECLARATION OF THE NINTH PAN-AFRICAN CONGRESS IN LOMÉ available for download here.

Simultaneously, it was a distinct privilege to accompany the Colombian delegation, led by Vice President H.E. Francia Elena Márquez Mina and Vice Minister Mr. Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, to the 9th Congress. To trace the arc from our Council’s initial advisory role during the Vice President’s first official visit to the continent in 2023, to now witnessing the culmination of her mandate with the establishment of relations with the Republic of Togo, is remarkable. It speaks directly to the maturity and laser-focused execution of Colombia’s Africa Strategy 2022-2026, marking a sophisticated evolution in South-South Cooperation.

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How can we transform intentions into action?

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QUIBDO, COLOMBIA — On August 11th the Pan-African Council in collaboration with Juntos Por el Chocó – JUPECH (Together for Choco), Manos Visibles, and Educatalento (Pan-African Youth Leadership Network), co-hosted a live discussion with young Afro-Colombian leaders on the topic of developing community leadership skills.

The event, entitled “How to transform intention into action?”, engaged young leaders from across the region that are passionate about transforming their communities and mobilising actions that drive greater economic, educational and skills training access. Participants shared experiences, knowledge and strategies  that not only help achieve these goals, but also inspire and create new leaders in their respective communities.

There has been growing concern and wide-spread debate about the health and economic consequences in Africa and regions of the Diaspora as the virus spreads throughout the world.

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As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, the deep-seated inequities that disproportionately affect Black communities and other underserved groups globally— such as income disparities, structural uncertainties, digital divide, lack of access to reliable information, absence of health insurance and poor access to medical care and facilities— can reinforce the impact of a crisis like the coronavirus outbreak, both in the short and long-term.

The Pan-African Council proudly supports the Global Black Youth (GBY) Webinar Series on Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in its effort to create meaningful dialogue on the current crisis as well as promote innovative, approaches and initiatives, encourage collaboration between participants across regions and continents, strengthen resilience and sustainable development and in the process find common ground, solidify ties, and promote cultural, educational and leadership development. For registration details kindly read and follow the links below.

Youth Webinar Series Part 1: Tackling Misinformation and Digital Rights in the Time of COVID-19

May 7th, 2020
The fight against the coronavirus disease has been greatly hindered by rampant and widespread COVID-19-related misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech. To overcome this infodemic, many governments have taken measures that increase state surveillance and disproportionately limit freedom of expression and effective communication about the onset of the disease. This panel brings together experts to discuss various methods to combat the spread of COVID-19 disinformation, misinformation and state-sponsored propaganda while preserving digital rights. Presenting examples from the Global South, they will discuss how to counter ‘problems such as Fake News’ and the ‘5G theory’ and present inclusive options for contact-tracing apps and data mining.

Youth Webinar Series Part 2: Healthcare and Science: Innovative Solutions to COVID-19

May 21st, 2020
From generating low-cost COVID-19 testing kits and 3D-printed ventilators to creating models that can use data to predict the global spread of the coronavirus disease, young African and African-descendant have used their expertise in healthcare and sciences to solve our global problems around a complex crisis such as COVID-19. Even as the ‘technology clusters’ such as Silicon Valley cast long shadows on emerging players, these young people have made numerous contributions and continue to push the global innovation landscape to be increasingly diverse and reflective of their realities. This panel will highlight these innovations as well as think deeply about their applicability in the fight against COVID-19.

Youth Webinar Series Part 3: Mitigating the Economic Impact of COVID-19

May 14th, 2020
It is evident that COVID-19 will have long lasting economic consequences, especially in Black communities hit hardest by the pandemic. Yet, even in these uncertain times, there are already a myriad of responses and varying measures of preparedness coming from Black leaders, disruptors and entrepreneurs to mitigate this inevitable fall out. Our third panel features the insights of young Black entrepreneurs and ecosystem players who are rising above the present challenges, building new avenues for their businesses and revolutionizing economic markets to fortify Black communities against the economic devastation of the disease and efforts to mitigate it.

For additional information and registration, please visit this link.

The Black Communities Respond to Covid-19 Webinar Series hosted by Global Black Youth is in partnership with The Portulans Institute as well as Internet Without Borders, Open Think Tank Network, The Youth Café, Pan-African Council, Global Business School Network, Webroots Democracy, Civic Tech Innovation Network, African Diaspora Youth Forum in Europe, University of Pretoria, and the ACP Young Professionals Network will bring together bright minds in Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.

Pan-African Council Ambassadors visit the city of Salvador da Bahia in Brazil to volunteer for a youth development organization inspired by African spiritual and healing tradition:

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In the forgotten outskirts of Brazil’s third largest city, Salvador da Bahia, one can hear the rhythms and laughter of a young generation yearning for their place in the modern world. The visitor would be surprised to encounter a deep intellectual discourse flourishing in an area seemingly plagued by poverty and drug-related violence. It is in this very setting that Joselito Crispim created a nonprofit in 1991 that goes by the name of “Bagunçaço.” At just 21 years old, Joselito embarked on a mission to make the young people of his community proud of their origins. Now, over 20 years later, his organization helps educate young children and adolescents by providing access to a library of books, skill-building classes, film production workshops, physical activities, cultural exchange opportunities, and music education.

Joselito’s Bangunçaço serves a community center, or better yet a training facility, that relies on a team of volunteers and sponsors to run its activities efficiently. Ranging from 6 to 18 years old, the 140 participants are immersed in a community where they are encouraged to treat each other as brothers, sisters, i.e. a unified family. The project aims to strengthen the self-esteem of children and inspire a passion for learning and fraternity. The parents of these children face harsh economic conditions in a hostile environment where the state public school system failed to properly educate or provide for their children. During my first visit to the center I was proudly greeted by the eldest of the children who were eager to show me their latest creation – an independent film, recorded, scripted, and edited by the children themselves. In the room next door, I observed the children giving voice and rhythm to improvised instruments made of old drums and cans that were once considered garbage in the streets. And just outside the center, groups of children were forming to practice Capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art) and others were preparing for a football match. Officially, the center’s closing hour is at 6:00pm sharp; however, the children are often so filled with energy that they perch themselves at the entrance deep into the night to rehearse the things they have learned that very same day.

This month, Joselito invited and accommodated twenty Danish students of the same age group in a weeklong cultural exchange. Despite the cultural and language barriers between these children from two very different parts of the world, they were assigned a clearly defined mission: to prepare a joint musical performance for the community. Joselito is an educator in the purest sense of the word. The guiding principals of the Bangunçaço project are founded in the values he acquired in his practice of Candomblé: an African spiritual and healing tradition that spread to Brazil during the slave trade, where people live in close communities that mutually help each other and develop responsibilities to serve their communities. His philosophy provides a basis for a new social organization, prepared to transform young adults into the future of Brazil, one mind at a time.