You don't have to love basketball to understand what excites Nyameka Semenya, senior HR director at NBA Africa. For her it’s all about what happens when thousands of strangers rally behind one team, young people discovering a new sport, and communities finding connection by a shared love of the game.
It is, she admits, the part of the job that still gives her goosebumps.
“Nothing gives me greater intrinsic satisfaction than knowing there is power in sport to bring people together,” she says. “We see it all the time, whether it's rugby, football or basketball. We rally behind our teams, celebrate together and, for a moment, everyone feels connected. I see our work through the lens of social responsibility and how we build communities through the power of sport. I don't just shuffle papers or put policies together. I get to do work that is meaningful, genuine and makes a true difference.”
The team behind the teams
The players may be the faces fans recognise, but she explains they are only one part of a much bigger picture.
“People often think it's all about the players, but we're also an entertainment and a media company. That's where our business really sits. Behind every game is a team of people across Africa making everything happen.”
Those people she says are spread across five regional offices in South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria, while the HR function itself remains closely connected to NBA headquarters in New York.
“Our centres of excellence develop the policies and programmes globally, but what works in the US won't necessarily work in Dakar, Nairobi or Lagos,” she explains. “Our role is to take those frameworks and make them work for Africa. You need local knowledge because every market is different.”
“If you look at the entire HR ecosystem, we do it all. Talent management, onboarding, learning and development, skills assessments, succession planning, mobility, promotions, year-end reviews, retention, recruitment and our Future Pros programme. My role is partnering with the business across all things human resources.”
Building great people and a great team, however, is only one part of the job. Every HR decision, she says, contributes to the bigger goal of growing the sport because, unlike football, basketball has never been a sport every child could simply pick up and play.
“You can play football almost anywhere. You can play rugby on any open field. Basketball is different because it requires proper infrastructure. You need courts in communities if you want children to fall in love with the game.”
"We're part of a broader ecosystem. Yes, there's basketball, but there's also fashion, music, entertainment and culture. It's become a lifestyle. A basketball game lasts about two hours, but the official clock/playing time is around 48 minutes. Everything else creates the experience.”
Scoring social impact
The vision is already starting to take shape, a reality that brings a smile to Nyameka’s face as she recalls the energy and excitement of the recently concluded sixth season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).
“We transformed each market (Pretoria, Rabat and Kigali) into complete basketball experiences with packed arenas and phenomenal energy. Young people have really embraced it.”
She acknowledges that creating a lasting basketball culture requires more than memorable game days. It also requires building the structures and capabilities that will support the game as it grows.
As she talks about building the future of basketball in Africa, it's impossible not to wonder where that passion for developing people began.
“I always say my career truly started at Woolworths," she shares. “I spent about five years there and even relocated to Cape Town because that's where the head office was.”
She loved life in the Mother City, but every business trip back to Johannesburg left her feeling restless.
“As soon as I landed at OR Tambo, I could feel the hustle, the bustle and the energy. I realised I had missed Johannesburg. It just felt like home.”
“Coming back home eventually led me to what was then DStv Online, where I joined the team that was building Showmax from scratch. It was a true start-up environment, and I absolutely thrived in it. I ended up staying at the MultiChoice Group for 10 years because I kept moving into different parts of the business. Every new role felt different.”
A season of change
There was, however, one more thing she was determined to build from the ground up – a family of her own.
“I found myself swapping the boardroom for nappies. I had the time of my life. I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to do that and just enjoy being a first-time mom. After about a year and a half, the children were settled and I'd watched every documentary and every series imaginable. I realised it was time to get back into the swing of things.”
Once she was ready to re-swap nappies for boardrooms, the opportunity that would lead her to her current role at NBA Africa came at just the right time.
Looking back now, she says every chapter feels like it prepared her for this one. Retail taught her commercial thinking. A streaming start-up taught her agility. Motherhood reshaped her perspective. And NBA Africa became the place where those experiences came together in a role where sport becomes a vehicle for connection and change.
“When I look at what we're building, I see opportunities, communities, and people coming together. Through the power of sport, we're creating something that genuinely changes lives. Being part of that is incredibly fulfilling.”
