The facility aims to support the growth of young athletes, providing greater opportunities for their career progression.
Kampala, November 26th, 2021 — Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has today announced that it has teamed up with Joshua Cheptegei in his ‘Run with Cheptegei’ campaign that aims to build the Joshua Cheptegei Training Centre. The centre will support athletes to pursue their careers in athletics and bring international know-how and networks to the region, equipping athletes with best in-class coaching and training facilities.
Joshua Cheptegei, a Ugandan long-distance runner, is the reigning Olympic Champion at 5,000m and World Champion at 10,000m. He also holds the current world records for both distances, having beaten the previous records in 2020.
The Joshua Cheptegei foundation is raising 1.7B Uganda Shillings (approximately USD 476,000) to build The Joshua Cheptegei Training Centre in Kapchorwa, Uganda. He is also working with a team of fellow athletes and world class coaches to promote talent among the youth across the country. Construction of the centre is already underway and the state-of-the-art facility will also have a museum to showcase and pay homage to Ugandan athletes.
Flutterwave supports this initiative by donating Ugandan shillings 20M as a show of support for African talent competing on the global stage. Cheptegei’s team also capitalized on Flutterwave’s donation platform by creating a fundraising link that allowed users across the globe to contribute.
Commenting on the announcement, Nielsimms Sangho, Uganda Country Manager at Flutterwave, said: “We’re incredibly excited to partner with one of Africa’s renowned sports heroes to support such a great initiative for East African youth. We are moved by Joshua’s talent, passion and vision to revolutionise sports for athletes and young people in Uganda and encourage all to join us as we change the lives of East Africa’s aspiring athletes through the love of sports.”
Commenting on the announcement, Joshua Cheptegei said: “My ambition has always been to establish facilities that will enable those that will come after me to achieve their dreams without going through the hardships that those before me and myself have gone through. This can only be achieved through having the right infrastructure and mindset.
Finances have been our biggest bottleneck. I have used my own money to buy land and establish a few facilities at the training centre. It’s why I really appreciate the organisations and individuals that have honoured this drive and given us some money. I greatly appreciate Flutterwave for the gesture and donation platform to pool these much needed resources.