Black Africa get more spoils
Quattro in a row: Ian Leyenaar, Chief Executive Officer of FNB Namibia poses with some of the Black Africa members during the bank’s recent contribution to the team’s outstanding performance of winning the league four times in a row.
Ian Leyenaar, Chief Executive Officer of FNB Namibia congratulated the BA football club and said that FNB was proud to be associated with the Lions for winning the league. He added that the bank was proud of all three FNB sponsored football teams, Black Africa, Eleven Arrows and FNB Orlando Pirates as they had each made good progress with the development of their clubs during the past football season. “FNB Namibia plays a huge supportive role in the development of sport in the country in general. As a matter of fact, we have been supporting a number of sport codes. FNB’s contribution to sport and sport development in the country is substantial, amounting to almost N$6.5 million per annum, which includes not only the sponsorship of soccer, cricket and rugby premier league clubs, but also some of Namibia’s most sort after sporting events such as the FNB Classic Clashes and the FNB Desert Dash, to mention but a few. FNB is further involved in making use of sports codes such as football to create awareness on the effects of climate change through our involvement in the Global United initiative. One of the investments in sport that we are particularly excited about is the support to allow Namibian Unions and federations to offer youth sport development programs, sponsored by the FNB Foundation,” said Leyenaar.
Regarding sport sponsorship in Namibia in general Leyenaar added that it was not always easy for sponsors to continue investing large amounts of money into sport if the general economy was slow, more so when sport in Namibia was still very much on an amateur level. He encourages other potential sponsors, from the corporate fraternity in Namibia, to consider investing in sport, both to help develop it and as a way to build their brand. “FNB has taken this bold step and we believe it is still the right thing to do, both as a corporate citizen and as an investment behind our brand.” Boni Paulino, Chairperson Black Africa Football Club thanked FNB Namibia for their ongoing support and pledged to honour all agreements with the bank. “As BA we have learned a lot from FNB Namibia as they have given us not only financial support but also in terms of strategy and leadership development and in running our club as a business.”
