The National Basketball Association (NBA) has named Victor Williams CEO of NBA Africa, effective Aug. 17, 2020, it was announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Williams, an accomplished investment banking executive with extensive experience growing businesses across the U.S. and Africa, will be based in the league’s Johannesburg office and report to NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum.
In this newly-created role, Williams will oversee the
league’s basketball and business development initiatives in Africa and will be
responsible for continuing to grow the popularity of basketball and the NBA
across the continent through grassroots development, media distribution,
corporate partnerships, and more.
For the last five years, Williams served as the Executive
Head of Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), Africa Regions for Standard
Bank Group, where he oversaw the strategy, execution and financial performance
for Standard Bank’s business with corporate, sovereign and institutional
investor clients in 19 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. In this
pan-continental role, Williams was responsible for growing a wide range of
business lines across Africa, including global markets, investment banking and
transactional products and services, and helped lead Standard Bank’s expansion
into Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
“Adding an executive of Victor’s caliber and experience is
an important step in our continued efforts to grow basketball across the continent,”
said Silver. “We look forward to Victor leading NBA Africa’s operations and
helping to accelerate the use of sports as an economic engine across Africa.”
“Becoming CEO of NBA Africa is a compelling opportunity to
join the NBA – a widely-respected and admired, globally-oriented sports
enterprise,” said Williams. “It allows me to blend my professional experience
building businesses in Africa with my passion for the sport of basketball. I
look forward to working with our colleagues in Johannesburg and Dakar to help
grow basketball’s commercial and social impact in Africa and on the world
stage.”
Williams joined Standard Bank in 2011 as Head of Corporate
and Investment Banking for East Africa and subsequently led Standard Bank’s
Corporate and Investment banking business in Nigeria.
Previously, he worked at Wells Fargo Securities in
Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was a Managing Director focused on mergers
and acquisitions. In this role, he executed more than $5 billion in merger and
acquisition transactions and advised senior executives and boards of directors
of corporate and private equity firms on mergers, divestitures, acquisitions,
joint ventures, recapitalizations and corporate defense.
Prior to Wells Fargo Securities, Williams was Vice President
of Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs in New York City, where he provided
strategic guidance to Fortune 500 companies in all aspects of merger and
financing analysis and execution.
Williams, a dual citizen of Sierra Leone and the U.S., holds
an MBA from Harvard Business School and bachelor’s degrees in applied math and
economics from Brown University. He is a member of Harvard Business School’s
Africa Advisory Board and has also served on the boards of publicly-listed
companies and non-profit organizations in the U.S., Nigeria and Kenya.
source: APO
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