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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:29 Masai, Andrew, our friend Amadou and the many guests here including Masai's family
00:43 and other families around. First of all I want to welcome you here and to let you
00:52 know you are our family as well, the family of Rwanda so you are most welcome anytime.
01:06 You know Masai and the words he has just spoken, above all he is a doer, he does things and
01:19 the testament to that is what we are experiencing here. Between him and I there is only one
01:34 regret that goes around and that is that his expense. He has failed to convert me to support
01:43 the team he leads, Toronto Raptors. But it is not because he didn't try, it is just
02:01 because the time he brought the conversation up I was already absorbed in supporting another
02:09 team somewhere. But I said okay if it is to have two I will add Toronto Raptors but first
02:24 it will always be my Golden State Warriors. So sorry to bring that up but that is the
02:44 way it is. But otherwise we are really grateful that we have been able to work together and
02:58 many things have happened including now this one that is coming up, Zaria Court and the
03:08 whole ecosystem built around it as you said. And it doesn't stop here, it spreads across
03:19 Rwanda, the region and our continent. Masai has told many stories about meeting we had
03:37 in Toronto and he invited me to go and watch the All-Star game and how that resulted into
03:49 building the arena. And you know from that time Masai when the arena here was opened
03:58 many African leaders, some men of whom have visited here and actually visited the arena
04:09 itself and they have left saying they are going to build even bigger arenas than our
04:22 own. And I encouraged them to do that. I told them after all you have more reasons to do
04:32 that, please go ahead and do it. So it starts with one thing and then it keeps spreading.
04:43 Well of course they promised and I am still following them and nudging them and saying
04:48 what happened. You promised you are going to build a big arena in your country and so
05:00 we want to see it coming up. But I am just talking about the beginning of the story,
05:06 a very good story and how in a way it might have been slow in different places and different
05:14 aspects but I think it has been growing and to grow and I think there is a lot more to
05:21 come than we have already seen. So we just promise as a country we will do our best.
05:32 Our best may not be good enough but we will keep trying. But having you as friends and
05:40 as partners I think to grow and we will be at the point where we want to be in terms
05:52 of growing. First identifying, there is a lot to do in terms of identifying talent around
06:02 and growing that and the potential is enormous. It is actually limitless. There is a lot that
06:13 can be nurtured and grown here in our continent and that connects with many other things,
06:22 other sectors and you know it is not a secret how in Africa sports is a big thing. The poor,
06:39 the rich, everyone is just connecting with that every day, every moment and that helps
06:53 the spirit to grow even in other areas of development. Therefore to grow the infrastructure,
07:01 to grow the economies, it contributes to tourism, does many things. So this is not just as we
07:12 see it. It is much, much bigger than what is seen by the eyes and I wanted to thank
07:22 you, Masai, Andrew and everyone who has been supporting you as part of your teams. So again
07:35 I wanted to emphasize that here you should all feel at home. You are most welcome. Thank
07:43 you very much.
07:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]