APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading pan-African communications and business consultancy, has been appointed Official Sponsor of the Sports for Education and Economic Development (SEED) Project (www.SEEDProject.org). SEED Project works with under-privileged African youth to provide quality education, high performance sports training, and the leadership tools ‘to make big dreams come true’.

[Watch the video of Senegalese basketball player Aboubacar Cassé: https://vimeo.com/110541313]

SEED was founded in 1998 by Amadou Gallo Fall, a graduate student from Senegal who was granted a basketball scholarship to the United States, and wanted to ensure that young people in Africa had access to the same opportunities. 

Africa has an extremely youthful population. According to UNESCO, 64% of the population in Senegal are under the age of 24, but poor literacy and lack of opportunity means many end up in poverty. 78% percent of those aged 15-19 drop out before completing high school. 

SEED’s main goals are to maximize school enrolment, retention, and graduation rates - and reduce the gender gap that exists all over Africa. In Senegal, for example, only 39% percent of women are literate compared to 62% of men.

In the last 22 years, SEED has provided supplementary learning experiences for thousands of young African people - many of them marginalized and extremely poor. Key areas of focus are the power of engagement in sports, tutoring, mentoring and life skills development. Other prominent partners of SEED include Nike and the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

Sport and education are also at the centre of APO Group’s CSR initiatives. The Company is a proud member of the UNESCO Global Education Coalition for COVID-19 Response (https://bit.ly/3iSAn0s), designed to help countries find distance learning solutions to minimize educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

APO Group has also forged partnerships with many leading organizations with the goal of raising the profile of sport across Africa.

The company is the Main Official Sponsor of World Rugby's African association, Rugby Africa, the governing body of rugby in Africa.

APO Group is the public relations agency of the NBA in Africa, and the Official Sponsor of the Lux Afrique Polo Day, the biggest African polo event in Europe. 

“APO Group shares our passion for helping the next generation of Africans, providing them with opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach,” said SEED Project President Joseph Lopez. “Through sport and education, we can ensure more talented young African people reach their potential and are able to shine on the world stage.”  

“We are excited to be able to support SEED in the fantastic work they are doing with young people all over Africa,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and Chairman of APO Group. “APO Group has always championed African sport, and this kind of initiative gives us the chance to help young people change the narrative and achieve the success they deserve.”