Friends & Family,

Last week, we visited the construction site for Zaria Court in Kigali. Set to open this October, the multipurpose venue – located next to the newly renovated 45,000 seat Amahoro Stadium and the BK Arena – will be a gathering place for tourists, visiting athletes, performers and their fans.  

The facility’s basketball court and soccer fields will host league and pick-up games and serve as a music venue.

The site will have a sports bar, restaurant, health club, craft market, and hotel. The managing director assures us that they will serve our premium Kari Potato Vodka.  

Zaria’s urban landscape will make it both visible and accessible. The development project is the inspiration of Masai Ujiri, the president of the Toronto Raptors. Ujiri was born in the U.K. to Nigerian-Kenyan parents and played professional basketball in Europe before rising through the executive ranks in the NBA. Ujiri has said: “we believe in the future of Africa, and we believe that the future is African.” 

The intersection of youth, sports and culture is important in Rwanda and across the continent, where the median age is about 19 years. Zaira Court in Kigali will be the first such complex. There are plans to build similar urban sports-culture centers in Accra, Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Dakar.

Rwanda has become a hub for ‘sports tourism’ as an intentional development strategy. For the past three years BK Arena has hosted the Basketball Africa League (BAL) championship.  Amahoro Stadium reopens this August and expects to attract global sports competitions and major musical performers. 

A few weeks ago top cyclists from around the world came to compete in the Tour du Rwanda.  Karen and I and the construction team cheered on the riders in front of the Virunga Mountain Spirits site as they competed in the stage-six time-trials from Musanze to the headquarters of Volcano National Park. The 1000m assent ended at the site of the annual baby gorilla naming ceremony, Kwita Izina

Just a kilometer down the road from VMS is Africa Rising Cycling Center, a hub for training professional riders and promoting the development of cycle tourism in Rwanda.

Bike racing in Rwanda has gained attention since Adrien Niyounshuti hit the international racing circuit after his successful bid to represent Rwanda at the 2012 Olympics.  The team’s story is told in the award-winning documentary Rising from Ashes.  

Cycling is a ubiquitous form of transportation in Rwanda. Bikes ferry passengers as taxis or bring produce to and from markets. The steep terrain is an excellent training ground for kids who want to pursue the sport of bike racing, no doubt inspired by the success of Team Rwanda and riders like Adrien. The 2025 UCI World Cycling Cup will be held in Rwanda.

Kigali recently played host to professional tennis players for an ATP Challenge Circuit event.  The two week tennis tournament was a first in sub-saharan Africa. Josline Umulisa, a Rwandan former professional player, has formed the Tennis Rwanda Children’s Foundation. Josline plans to bring a delegation of professional coaches to Musanze this June to help grow the youth program at the local courts where I play.

Rwanda has so much to offer beyond visiting wildlife. There are growing opportunities to connect with artists, artisans and athletes, and a growing interest in all things craft. All of it

bodes well for Virunga Mountain Spirits. Our distillery/agro-tourism site is more than sixty percent complete, and we expect to be open in time for this year’s baby gorilla naming ceremony, Kwita Izina, a 20th anniversary celebration.

Hope all is well with you.

Best,

Bill

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