Rwanda will, for the first time, host Basketball Without Borders (BWB), a global basketball development and community outreach program.

Co-organised by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and World Basketball governing body (FIBA), BWB aims to unite young basketball players from around the globe to promote the sport and encourage positive social change in areas like education, health, and wellness.

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Dakar, Senegal (2010 and 2019), Luanda, Angola (2016), Cairo, Egypt (2022) and South Africa (2023 and 2024) standout as the only other African cities to have hosted the BWB camps.

The NBA and FIBA have confirmed that Kigali will be next to host Basketball Without Borders (BWB) from August 23-26.

At least 41 former BWB campers were among the record 125 international players on opening-night rosters for the 2023-24 NBA season, including 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011), who became the first former BWB camper to be named NBA MVP, and 2019 NBA champion Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012).

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The campers and coaches, who will be announced prior to the camp, will also take part in life-skills, leadership development and NBA Cares programming.

In total, 13 former BWB Africa campers have been drafted into the NBA since the first BWB Africa camp in 2003, including Ulrich Chomche (Cameroon), who was selected 57th overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2024 NBA Draft last month. Sixty-three former BWB Africa campers have also been featured on BAL team rosters over the league’s first four seasons.

BWB has reached more than 4,400 participants from 142 countries and territories since 2001, with 127 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA. The NBA and FIBA have staged 75 BWB camps in 50 cities across 33 countries on six continents.