Newcastle entrepreneur delivers an ace for African tennis

Lighton Musonda, President of the Zambia Tennis Association (ZTA), has expressed his heartfelt gratitude to founder of the Newcastle-based Adderstone Group – and keen tennis player Ian Baggett.

The ZTA’s readmission follows a payment of over US$20,000 in outstanding arrears to the sports global and African governing bodies.

It means the ZTA will now be able to participate in the Davis and Billie Jean Cups, as well as accessing additional financial and professional support for grassroots development which will include improvements to the nation’s tennis infrastructure.

The International Tennis Federation (ITA) suspended the ZTA in 2013 for non-payment of its affiliation fees.

However, late last year, with the financial support of Mr Baggett, Adderstone, and others, the ZTA was able to repay the $US20,000-plus worth of fees owed to the ITA and the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT).

The readmission is already bearing fruit with the junior national team recently participating in the ITF/CAT Junior Championships in Namibia.

Mr Musonda said: “To say we are grateful to Ian and Adderstone is an understatement. I wish I could create a word for it. Probably even Ian and Adderstone do not realise how much they have done.

“It has been a long long journey of 12 years of tennis development stagnation, but when I reached out to Ian everything was magic and made our work much easier.

“What they have done will not only improve tennis standards in Zambia but will also improve the health and wellness for thousands of our youths for years to come. They are simply life-saver.”

Mr Baggett was introduced to the ZTA by his former Durham University mentor Peter Warburton OBE on a visit to Zambia with his eldest two children in 2024.

Peter Warburton founded Volunteer Zambia, which has helped deliver dozens of sports-led development programmes since 2004.

During his time as a Geography undergraduate at Durham, Mr Baggett represented British Universities at tennis and in later years went on to represent Great Britain in the 2014 World Seniors Championships.

He said: “I immediately bonded with Lighton. We were both brought up in mining communities, albeit in different continents, and tennis transformed our lives.

"His passion for improving the life opportunities for Zambian children especially through tennis is both inspiring and infectious.

“Now that we’ve helped steady the Zambian tennis ship, I’m looking forward to seeing the ZTA initiate a comprehensive programme of tennis development across all ages, and across the nation.”

The ZTA says the country has 19 active clubs, seven academies and 50 tennis courts. It says there are around 250 competitive tennis players and around a further 1,000 playing social tennis.

Re-joining the IFT presents an opportunity for further infrastructure development, it will also permit access to its developmental programmes, and support coaching, umpiring and administrator training.

Mr Musonda added: “Through its Development Strategy, the ITF has committed to supporting our efforts to grow and advance the sport of tennis in Zambia.

“With their support we aim to expand tennis beyond our urban communities and develop well-structured primary, secondary and tertiary school tennis programmes, with a renewed emphasis on female participation.

“The ZTA also views this as an opportunity to compete in international tournaments, improve wellness, livelihoods, and influence social change by helping in the development of responsible youngsters who are an asset to their communities.

Mr Baggett has recently been made an Honorary Chairman of the ZTA.

About Adderstone Group

Ian Baggett founded Adderstone Group in 1993 on the back of his geography dissertation on student accommodation, which doubled up as a business plan, supplemented with a £2,000 inheritance.

More than 200 businesses now operate from in excess of two million sq ft of commercial floor space developed or owned by Adderstone Group across the UK.

Over one per cent of the population in Newcastle's urban core now live in homes developed by Adderstone Group.

Mr Baggett founded the Adderstone Foundation with his colleagues in 2006 and it has since donated over £920,000 to good causes.