Antonio Depina’s Thrilling Move from a Basketball Star to a Successful Entrepreneur

Photo source: Netflix

Antonio Depina has made a fascinating transition from pro athlete to businessman. The 26-year-old is a first-generation American, whose parents migrated into the United States from very humble backgrounds in Africa. Under the care of his Cape Verdean father and Liberian mother, he found basketball. Antonio was a star athlete from high school and travelled the world playing professional basketball in Spain, France and Portugal.

Down the line, Antonio returned to the US and launched his entrepreneurial career. His first business was a real estate company in Delaware called 302 Home Buyers which is now thriving. Then he launched Overseas Basketball Connection (OBC), a basketball talent company that connects basketball players with pro basketball teams across the world.

Having had a feel of some of the world’s most developed entrepreneurial ecosystems, Antonio returned to Africa to give back and help develop the continent’s sports business. He launched the Praia League in his home country, Cape Verde, and is on a mission to fulfil the dreams of basketball talents across the continent. Antonio gained celebrity status after his time on Netflix’s The Circle. He was recently recognised by Forbes Africa in its 30 Under 30 list.

Business Elites Africa had the delight of sitting with this vibrant serial entrepreneur on the launch of his basketball league, Africa’s sports business, and a lot more. What inspired me to launch Praia League is my country has been trying to boost tourism with a lot of different things. But I think we haven’t tried sports. Sports is something that can spotlight our country and boost tourism, provide jobs and boost the economy. That’s why I started the Praia League.

What was it like launching a basketball league in Africa?

I played professional basketball in Europe and have seen a lot of African players leave the continent to go chase their basketball dreams in other places. So I wanted to create a league here that was sustainable, durable and that allowed African talents to play at higher levels.

What has the reception for Praia League been like since launch?

So far the Praia League experience has been great. It’s actually running itself right now. My staff are really good

at what they do and work really hard to make everything go smoothly. The people really love it.

We’re going to fill up the arena for the games as much as we. Everyone will be following COVID-19 protocols. People want some entertainment and we’re going to give that to them.

What other ways can people experience Praia League?

All games are streaming live on Praia League’s YouTube channel and Facebook. We’re getting lots of viewers every game, so it’s been going really well.

Where’s the league with African sponsorships?

We’ve received sponsorship from a lot of huge local businesses here in Cape Verde.

How would you say Africa is rated in the international basketball ecosystem?

On a global level, Africa is at the lowest right now because we don’t have any professional leagues here, even though we’ve got all the talents. I believe Nigeria has eight NBA players who play for the Nigeria national team, but there’s no professional league in the country. It just doesn’t make sense to me if we have all these talents here and aren’t doing better. I feel we’re at the lowest right now, but we have the most potential over any continent in the world.

How can stakeholders help African basketball step up?

I feel like policymakers have not made it easy for us. They need to make it easier. I know that a lot of things in Africa are bureaucratic, you have to go to this person to get to that person, but they have to make it easy for entrepreneurs to do things here. From what I have experienced so far, it needs to be easier.

What would you say was your worst day as an entrepreneur?

I wouldn’t say I had a worst day. There’s a period as an entrepreneur, that I always call the moment of truth when there’s struggling in the beginning or should I say a little bit after take-off. It’s a point where you have to choose if you really want to do this, or if you really don’t. And every entrepreneur has to deal with this. It’s like things aren’t working, people are making promises they can’t keep. I went through that period. Everyone does. But at some point, you’re going to realize, it’s a little farther to go backwards than to just keep going forward. You know you’re close to your destination than just turning around in defeat. That’s the way I looked at it and kept going.

What’s your advice for entrepreneurs in Africa who have the odds stacked against them?

My advice for any entrepreneur in Africa would be, find a problem and make a solution. There’s a lot of problems in Africa that we need to help fix. Simple things, for example, my country doesn’t have fast-food system. We don’t have anywhere we can go to get normal drivethroughs. So a simple solution like an Uber eats would do.

Even if you don’t have any money, come up with a solution. Work hard until you get to that point where you can make it happen. Never give up and don’t follow the trend in Africa where rather than fix the problem, people try to go around the problem which isn’t always the correct way to do things. What you need to do is go through the problem. That’s how our countries and our continent will grow exponentially.

How do you relieve stress?

To relieve stress, I like to go to different places. I used to party a lot when I was younger, but now I stay a little low. I don’t really go out too much. I like to take my friends and family to different places, just to see new things. My dream has been to see the world and I’m doing that now.

What’s your favourite part of being an entrepreneur?

My favourite part about being an entrepreneur is the freedom of being in charge. I like being the boss. It gives me the freedom to do anything I want, whenever I want. It’s just freeing, it doesn’t feel like I’m attached to anything or have to do anything. And I enjoy what I do because I only start businesses that I’m passionate about. So it never feels like work and it’s fun to me. I enjoy what I do every day. I’m blessed to wake up and do what I love.

Photo source: instagram/therealantoniodepina