The festival, organised by RITE Sports under the auspices of the Beyond the Return Committee, aims to use sports, music and fashion to engage Africans in the diaspora.

The event bounces back after a two-year break occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and will also feature another duel between teams representing the United States of America (USA) and France, as well as musical performances and a fashion show.

Purpose

"This event will take place in Ghana for a couple of years but will travel through the African continent in the future. The Africa Basketball Festival will, in the coming years, add many African teams to the basketball game, fashion brands from different countries and musicians from different countries to entertain fans," he said.

On her part, the Social Media Manager of the Beyond the Return Committee, Ivy Prosper, said her outfit was interested in the opportunity that basketball provided for networking and teamwork.

The Community Liaison Officer of Beyond the Return, Socrate Safo, also warned event organisers to desist from using the "Beyond the Return" brand to promote their events without approval from the Committee.

He said there were certain benchmarks, including ensuring the safety of patrons and security, which had to be met before events could receive the seal of approval.

Beyond the Return

"Beyond the Return" is a follow-up to the successful “Year Of Return” - #YearOfReturn, Ghana 2019’ campaign which commemorated the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans in Jamestown Virginia in 1619.

The landmark campaign also celebrated the resilience of Africans over the past 400 years and welcomed all people of African origin to return to Africa, especially Ghana.