Rwanda Women’s Basketball League champions Rwanda Energy Group (REG) Women’s Basketball Club are intensifying preparations for the 2025 FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championship, where they will face some of the region’s top teams.
The tournament will take place in Kenya from November 9 to 15. REG is currently training daily at Ste. Famille Court in Kigali as part of their build-up to the regional event.
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In a bid to strengthen the squad, REG has added two new players to its roster: Rwandan international small forward Chantal Kiyobe and Congolese power forward Grace Malu Irebu, both formerly with Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
Kiyobe, 25, is a key member of the Rwandan women’s national team and has previously played club basketball both locally and in Kenya. Irebu, 27, was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2024 Kenyan Women’s League after guiding KPA to the championship title. She also boasts international experience, having played professionally in the Philippines and China.
Meanwhile, REG has appointed Senegalese coach Malick Goudiaby as the new head coach ahead of the Zone 5 tournament. Goudiaby, who has previously coached Dakar University Club Women and ASC Ville de Dakar in Senegal, has already arrived in Rwanda and taken charge of the team’s training sessions.
The Zone 5 Championship will feature 10 clubs from FIBA’s Zone 5 countries, including Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya. Rwanda will be represented by REG and APR, who finished as champions and runners-up, respectively, in the 2025 Rwanda Cup.
The competition also serves as a qualifier for the 2025 Women’s Basketball League Africa (WBLA), which brings together 12 of the continent’s best women’s basketball clubs. REG qualified for last year’s WBLA and finished in seventh place.
Sources indicate that REG may still recruit one or two additional foreign players before the tournament begins.
APR Women’s Basketball Club is also preparing for the same event. The team represented Rwanda at last year’s WBLA, where they secured an impressive third-place finish.