Award-winning actor Lupita Nyong'o has announced her investment in Kenya Basketball Federation champions Nairobi City Thunder, the first Kenyan club to qualify for the Basketball Africa League. Nyong'o shared the news on Instagram, wearing a club bomber jacket and writing: "Taking a tunnel walk to celebrate that I'm an investor in Nairobi City Thunder. The Nairobi City Thunder are the first Kenyan team to qualify for the Basketball Africa League, and I'm pumped and proud to be behind them. TWENDE!"
The investment comes as Thunder prepare to face Kenya Ports Authority in the 2026 men's league playoff final. A title defence would secure a spot in the Road to BAL qualifiers, tentatively scheduled for October ahead of the 2026 BAL season. Nyong'o joins musicians Bien and Chiki, who have also recently invested in the club.
The announcement follows comments by NBA Africa chief executive Clare Akamanzi at the Unstoppable Africa 2026 forum in New York, held on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly. Akamanzi said the BAL would move to permanent, privately owned teams backed by the NBA and FIBA.
Thunder have qualified for the BAL twice. They secured their first ticket in December 2024 by defeating Uganda's City Oilers 72-62 in the East Division Elite 16 semifinals and went on to post a 1-5 record in the 2025 BAL Nile Conference in Kigali. In November 2025 they returned to the BAL via a home run at the Kasarani Indoor Gymnasium, beating Mozambique's Ferroviario da Beira 109-70 and the Johannesburg Giants 94-84. They finished 2-3 in the 2026 Kalahari Conference in Pretoria.
