The current Rwanda Basketball League off-season, like previous ones, will feature news of transfers of players as teams prepare for the 2026 season. Already, Dieudonné ‘Gaston’ Ndizeye’s move to APR and Antino Jackson’s move to Tigers have set the pace, while more trades are expected to be announced in coming days. This will make for great banter, in bars and on social media.

However, amid the transfers, lurks a risk that could get in the way of the league’s appeal, sustainability and competitiveness; absence of salary caps to regulate player remuneration.

Before you argue that I am just sore that my favourite team is losing some of its top players, please hear me out.

Year by year, the quality of the game, the talent pool, and the fan base have been growing, all evidence of an undeniable promising trajectory. The league now boasts passionate clubs as well as growing local and regional media attention, further proof of commercial potential.

However, without implementing spending limits on salaries (on how much clubs can spend on players’ salaries annually), we face the very real prospect that the best players, many of them homegrown talents and rising stars, will congregate in just a handful of financially able teams. This consolidation of talent threatens to stifle competition and undermine the excitement that makes our league interesting to watch all season.

Professional sports leagues worldwide teach us an important lesson: rapid growth, if left unmanaged, can lead to imbalances that harm the sport in the long term.

Lacking salary caps, wealthier clubs or sponsors can outbid others to sign the best players. In the short term, this may boost a team’s chances of winning trophies, but over time, it creates a "rich get richer” scenario. Smaller or less well-funded clubs find themselves unable to compete financially, resulting in predictable outcomes and less fan engagement.

Salary caps do not mean equal spending but rather reasonable (total) team salary ceilings that encourage fair competition. They can be designed with flexibility, including exceptions for developing youth talents ensuring Rwanda’s basketball development ecosystem is prioritized.

Imagine a future where just two or three teams (in this case APR, REG and Tigers) consistently attract all the league’s top talents—creating a league divided into "haves” and "have nots.”

This scenario would diminish the competitive balance that keeps fans excited from week to week. The thrill of upsets, the emergence of unexpected contenders, and the showcase of diverse playing styles thrive on uncertainty and opportunity. Concentrating talent in just a few teams kills that spirit.

Moreover, players themselves might find their career opportunities limited. When only a couple of clubs dominate talent acquisition, many promising athletes may struggle to find meaningful playing time or development opportunities. This stagnation risks dampening the inspiration and progression of future generations eager to follow basketball dreams.

Salary caps are proven policy tools that can safeguard competitive balance in sports leagues around the world. By imposing limits on total player salaries a team can offer, salary caps ensure that wealthier clubs cannot monopolize talent. This policy forces clubs to make strategic decisions on talent allocation, nurturing youth development, and creating balanced rosters. This some would argue would also benefit the national team.

In our Rwandan context, salary caps would foster a more equitable distribution of player economic rewards, enabling a wider pool of teams to build competitive squads. This expanded competitiveness will revive the league’s unpredictability—crucial for building sustained fan interest and growing commercial sponsorship across a broader range of clubs. Currently, all factor constant, it is easy to predict who are the top contenders for the trophy for the next two or three years.

It is understandable that many may view salary caps as limiting freedom or inhibiting the market’s natural dynamics. However, the unique circumstances of the Rwanda Basketball League, its rapid development, a relatively small number of financially powerful clubs, and aspirational but financially constrained teams—require carefully calibrated regulation.

FERWABA has an opportunity to take a visionary leadership role by designing a salary cap system suited to Rwanda’s unique basketball landscape—one that preserves competitiveness, drives financial sustainability, and incentivizes player growth.

Desire Mugwiza, the President of FERWABA might want to initiate consultations with clubs, players and maybe sponsors to develop an inclusive salary cap policy. Education sessions on the benefits and mechanics of salary regulation will ease implementation.

Without measures like salary caps, the risk is clear: a league dominated by two or three elite clubs, diminishing opportunities for broad-based growth and turning off fans craving unpredictable, thrilling competition.

Some might argue that I am just sore that my favourite team is seeing fast departure of its top players, maybe, maybe not.

The writer is a basketball fan.