Williams, an performed investment banking executive with vast experience developing agencies across the U.S. and Africa, will be primarily based in the league’s Johannesburg office report to NBA Deputy Commissioner andrec Operating Officer Mark Tatum.
In this newly-created role, Williams will oversee the league’s basketball and business development initiatives in Africa and will be accountable for continuing to grow the recognition of basketball and the NBA across the continent thru grassroots development, media distribution, corporate partnerships, and more.
For the last five years, Williams served as the Executive Head of Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), Africa Regions for Standard Bank Group, where he oversaw the strategy, execution and financial performance for Standard Bank’s business with corporate, sovereign and institutional investor clients in 19 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. In this pan-continental role, Williams was responsible for growing a wide range of business lines across Africa, including global markets, investment banking and transactional products and services, and helped lead Standard Bank’s expansion into Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
“Adding an executive of Victor’s calibre and experience is an important step in our continued efforts to grow basketball across the continent,” said Silver. “We look forward to Victor leading NBA Africa’s operations and helping to accelerate the use of sports as an economic engine across Africa.”
“Becoming CEO of NBA Africa is a compelling opportunity to join the NBA – a widely-respected and admired globally-oriented sports enterprise,” said Williams. “It allows me to blend my professional experience building businesses in Africa with my passion for the sport of basketball. I look forward to working with our colleagues in Johannesburg and Dakar to help grow basketball’s commercial and social impact in Africa and on the world stage.”
Williams joined Standard Bank in 2011 as Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for East Africa and subsequently led Standard Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking business in Nigeria.
Previously, he worked at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he was a Managing Director focused on mergers and acquisitions. In this role, he executed more than $5 billion in merger and acquisition transactions and advised senior executives and boards of directors of corporate and private equity firms on mergers, divestitures, acquisitions, joint ventures, recapitalizations and corporate defense.
Prior to Wells Fargo Securities, Williams was Vice President of Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs in New York City, the place he furnished strategic practise to Fortune 500 corporations in all aspects of merger and financing evaluation and execution.
Williams, a dual citizen of Sierra Leone and the U.S., holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and bachelor’s tiers in applied math and economics from Brown University. He is a member of Harvard Business School’s Africa Advisory Board and has additionally served on the boards of publicly-listed companies and non-profit organizations in the U.S, Nigeria and Kenya
