Masai Ujiri is back in Toronto sport, but this time not from the bench, the front office, or the draft room. The Nigerian basketball executive who helped build the Toronto Raptors into 2019 NBA champions has joined the ownership group of the Toronto Tempo, the city’s new WNBA franchise. It is another significant move for one of the most influential African figures in global sport, and it places him alongside tennis legend Serena Williams in one of the most closely watched ownership groups in women’s basketball.
Ujiri is one of the most accomplished basketball operators of his generation. Reuters reported that he served as Raptors president through June 2025 after joining the organisation in 2013 and helping lead it to the 2018-19 NBA title. Now he moves into ownership with the Tempo at a moment when women’s sport is rising to command attention.
The Toronto Tempo were announced in May 2024 when the WNBA awarded Canada its first franchise, making Toronto the league’s first team outside the United States. The team is set to begin play in 2026 at Coca-Cola Coliseum, with regular-season games across Canada. Serena Williams joined the ownership group in March 2025, giving the franchise immediate star power. Ujiri adds deep basketball credibility, proven executive judgement, and strong roots in African talent development.
By the time Toronto tips off, the WNBA will have expanded to 15 teams, with the Tempo and Portland Fire entering together. That means Ujiri is stepping into a league that is growing structurally, commercially, and culturally. Reuters also noted that he will work alongside Tempo president Teresa Resch and general manager Monica Wright Rogers, giving the club an experienced leadership core before its first season even begins.
The broader African story
Born in England to Nigerian and Kenyan parents and raised in Nigeria, Ujiri has spent years using basketball as a platform for development through Giants of Africa. His move into WNBA ownership, therefore, signals that African influence in global sport has gone beyond producing players, coaches, or administrators. It is increasingly entering the ownership level, where capital, governance, and long-term power sit.
President-elect Kagame, Masai Ujiri (L), NBA Africa Head – Amadou Fall (R), and Sports & Culture Minister Julienne Uwacu (2nd R) pose with children at the launch of Giants of Africa Basketball Court.
For decades, Africans have supplied elite talent to global sport while ownership and wealth creation remained concentrated elsewhere. Ujiri joining the Tempo ownership group suggests a different future, one in which Africans are helping to own and direct it. That shift is already visible across football, basketball, and Major League Soccer.
Toronto is also a fitting place for this moment. Ujiri helped turn the Raptors into a franchise with global reach and multicultural identity. The Tempo now have a chance to build something similar in women’s basketball: a team with competitive ambition, commercial appeal, and international resonance. With Larry Tanenbaum leading the ownership group, Serena Williams already on board, and Ujiri now added to the cap table, the franchise is assembling influence.
Other Africans with verified ownership stakes in sports teams globally
Nassef Sawiris of Egypt jointly controls V Sports, which owns Aston Villa and Aston Villa Women, and also holds a minority stake in Portugal’s Vitória S.C. Reuters has separately identified him as Aston Villa co-owner.
Sir Mohamed Mansour, the British-Egyptian businessman, is a founding partner and chairman of San Diego FC in MLS through Man Capital. Man Capital also owns Right to Dream, whose football network spans Ghana, Egypt, Denmark, and the United States.
Tems, the Nigerian singer-songwriter, joined San Diego FC’s ownership group as a club partner in February 2025. The club said she entered in partnership with African investment firm Pave Investments.
Tunde Folawiyo and Kwamena Afful, through Pave Investments, also joined San Diego FC’s ownership group as part of the same deal that brought in Tems.
Shola Akinlade of Nigeria, Paystack’s co-founder, bought a 55 per cent stake in Danish club Aarhus Fremad, with BusinessDay reporting that he also held a stake in Sporting Lagos as part of a wider football project linking Nigeria and Europe.
Kunle Soname of Nigeria acquired 70 per cent of Portuguese club C.D. Feirense in 2015, according to The Nation, adding to his football interests in Nigeria through Remo Stars.
