The 7-foot giant of Ngleshie Amanfro: Seven-foot Ghanaian Ephraim Saawa dreams of joining the national basketball team

In Ngleshie Amanfro, a bustling community in the Ga South Municipality, you don’t need to know his name to know him.

You just look up.

At 7.0 feet tall, Ephraim Sincero Ma-c Saawa is impossible to miss.

Trotro mates call him to the front seat. Children stop and stare. Adults pull out their phones for a quick picture.

Strangers on the streets from Amanfro through to Kasoa stop him to ask the same question: “How tall are you?” For many, that attention would be a burden.

For Ephraim, it could be a destiny he cannot do away with.

The young Senior High School graduate wants to turn the curious looks into cheers in a basketball arena.

His ultimate dream is simple but audacious: to wear the red, gold and green of Ghana, step onto the international basketball court, and bring home a trophy for his country. “I want to join Ghana’s national basketball team, compete in international tournaments and help win a trophy for the country,” he told MyJoyOnline in an interview that captures both his humility and his hunger.

Ephraim is not yet a household name in Ghanaian sports. He has no national caps, no league titles, no endorsement deals. But in Ngleshie Amanfro, he is already a local celebrity — the towering pride of the community whose physical gift many believe could become Ghana’s sporting advantage.

He comes from Nandom Piina in the Upper West Region, but his story is taking shape in Greater Accra.

He completed Abakrampa Senior High School in 2025 in the Central Region, where he studied Business.

While his mates were focused on football — the default passion in almost every Ghanaian second cycle school — Ephraim’s eyes were on the basket.

It was not always basketball. At basic school, he was a volleyball player. His height made him natural at the net. But by the time he got to Senior High School, his heart had switched courts. “By the time I reached senior high school, my dream was to play basketball rather than volleyball,” he recalled.

The problem was that his school had no basketball court.

While Abakrampa SHS chalked up successes in athletics and football, basketball was a sport played in his imagination and wherever he could find students from other schools to train with. “First, I need to learn to play basketball very well.

That way, if I get the opportunity to join the national team, I will be able to perform well and help the team,” he said — a statement that shows he understands that height alone does not make a baller.

That structured learning has now begun. For the past two months, Ephraim has been training with the Magic Basket Ball Academy, based at Tudu close to the Accra Technical University.

The opportunity came through his father, who refused to let his son’s potential go to waste. “My father took me to meet the coach and spoke to him about training me,” he explained.

At Magic, he is learning to convert his natural attributes the long legs that power high vertical jumps for rebounds, the long strides that allow quick first steps for drives to the basket into real basketball Footwork, positioning, shooting, and defending. His role model is no surprise:

French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4-inch NBA superstar who has redefined what a big man can do.

Ephraim does not just admire Wembanyama’s height; he admires how he uses it.”I admire how he plays, especially his defensive skills.

That is why he is my role model,” he said. He points to Wembanyama’s shot-blocking, his rebounding dominance, and his selfless support for teammates as the blueprint he wants to follow.

So strong is his admiration that he openly appeals for a chance to meet Wembanyama one day, mentioning Ghanaian businessman Ibrahim Mahama as someone he hopes could help make that dream encounter possible.

For now, he is willing to join any professional team that will give him a chance to learn, to grow, and to contribute to winning tournaments and league titles. A Celebrity Without Trying.

His challenge is how to get good training kits.

Away from the court, Ephraim’s life is a lesson in living tall literally and figuratively — in a world built for average height.

He says the fascination with his height started as early as basic school. Teachers and pupils alike were amazed. At Abakrampa SHS, he was officially the tallest student on campus.

Today, a simple walk to buy something in Ngleshie Amanfro becomes a meet-and-greet.”Some people laugh, while others are surprised.

Some approach me to take pictures or ask for my phone number, and we become friends,” he said with a smile. Many in the community now call him the tallest boy in Accra, but he is quick to deflect the title with disarming humility. “I cannot say that because I have not seen everyone in Accra. I believe there may be people who are taller than me,” he said.

But the fame has its frustrations, especially with transportation.

Ghana’s ubiquitous trotros were not designed with 7-foot passengers in mind. “If I sit at the back, I sometimes experience leg pain by the time I reach my destination. That is why I usually sit in front,” he explained.

It has become a daily negotiation.

If the front seat is taken, he politely asks the driver’s mate to intervene and explain his condition to the occupant.

Some passengers understand and swap seats.

Others refuse, and Ephraim simply waits for the next car.

He wants public transport to be more accommodating and for drivers and mates to be more empathetic for people like him and others.

“They should explain our difficulties to other passengers so that people understand why sitting at the back can be uncomfortable for us,” he appealed. Beyond The Court: Coding And Community.

What makes Ephraim’s story compelling is that basketball is only one half of his ambition. While he works at a printing press in Ngleshie Amanfro to make ends meet, he is preparing to pursue university education in Computer Science. He wants to become a software engineer. His motivation is not just personal advancement. He is worried about how young Ghanaians are using technology. He says he has seen many students rely completely on Artificial Intelligence to do assignments without actually learning. “I would like to create software that helps children and young people understand the world better and respond to what is happening around them,” he said. He also dreams of establishing small businesses to support himself and his family.

More importantly, he wants to turn his visibility into a vehicle for positive change. In a community where many young people are at risk of falling into gangs and social vices, he believes his towering presence can carry a towering message. “I would like to encourage them to focus on their lives and their future rather than engage in social vices,” he said.

From the streets of Amanfro where he is stopped for selfies, to the dusty court at Tudu where he is learning to block and rebound, to the printing press where he works and the future computer lab where he hopes to code, Ephraim Sincero Ma-c Saawa is walking — tall — towards two futures at once.

One is in Silicon Valley-inspired dreams of software that educates Ghanaian children. The other is in a Ghana jersey, hearing the national anthem before a big game, ready to jump for the opening tip-off.

For Ghana basketball, which has long searched for its next big man to compete with Nigeria, Senegal and Angola on the continent, the giant of Ngleshie Amanfro might just be worth a look.