Nature and nurture: tennis development in East and Central Africa
During 2021, there has been an increased focus upon participation as the ITF continues its drive to broaden opportunity, support talent and work towards achieving an ambitious target of 120 million – 30 million more – playing tennis globally by 2030.
As the year unfolds, ITFWorld and itftennis.com will continue to circumnavigate the globe and report on what is happening throughout its various regions.
In the latest in this series, we catch up with Thierry Ntwali, the ITF’s Development Officer for East and Central Africa, as he provides an overview of participation in his region before acting as our guide as we traverse part of a vast and varied continent.
“My region, particularly the East Africa part, is known for its magnificent and stunning natural features, including Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, while the River Nile has its source in Lake Nyanza – the biggest lake in Africa.
"It is also renowned for wildlife and safaris, and in terms of sport it is well-stocked with athletics champions. Athletics is the most popular sport in the region by some distance. In terms of popularity, tennis is probably not within the top three sports in any of my countries.
"However, through the hard work and commitment of many people, tennis is becoming one of the region’s leading sports in terms of performance, with Burundi’s Sada Nahimana a shining light.
"The performance side of things was just starting to take off when I was appointed ITF Development Officer in April 2011, thanks in no small part to the programmes initiated by my predecessor Prince Madema.
"My main aim back then was just to continue the momentum and, a little over a decade later, East and Central Africa is now one of Africa’s most successful regions for producing performance players.
"In the last 15 years, for instance, 11 players from East and Central Africa – Sada Nahimana, Hassan Ndayishimiye, Guy Orly Iradukunda and Aisha Niyonkuru (Burundi), Celestin Nkoueleue (Cameroon), Ella Celestine Avomo (Gabon), Christian Vitulli, Ismael Changawa Ruwa and Agella Okutoyi (Kenya), Duncan Mugabe (Uganda) and Daniel Bushamuka (Congo, Democratic Republic) – have held a top 150 junior ranking.
