The 2023 FIBA Africa Regional Youth Camp will take place in the cities of Kigali, Rwanda, and Bamako, Mali. FIBA Africa brings the development project back to both cities this year following similar successful events in 2021 and 2022. An all-girls camp will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from September 26 to 28. In each event, 45 players from 15 countries and 15 coaches will be in action, with 15 female coaches attending the Kigali event. Separate camps will be organized for boys and girls, as per FIBA Africa's decision. For the first Youth Camp of the year, boys will gather in Bamako, Mali, from September 20-22. The FIBA Africa Regional Youth Camp is an elite program created to identify and develop the best young African basketball players. Camps will be supervised by experts while they work on the technical aspects of basketball throughout the camps. FIBA Africa collaborated with some of the most renowned African basketball personalities to organize the Youth Camps. They include NBA Africa Ambassador Astou N'Diaye, Christelle Ngarsanet, a former player of Ivorian National Team and assistant coach at Florida International University; Robert Pack, a former NBA player who served as Rwanda Energy Group (REG) head coach during the Basketball Africa League Season 2, FIBA instructor Cheick Sarr and NBA legend Olumide Oyedeji. In addition, they will receive tools to promote their personal development and learn about leadership values during the program. Apart from recognizing and nurturing African basketball talent, these workshops aim to turn young people into key drivers of change using basketball as a medium. Since its launch in 2021, the FIBA Africa Youth Camp has reached 43 countries, benefiting a total of 240 young basketball players, including 90 girls. Egypt's Salma Khedr attended the FIBA Africa Youth Camp in 2022, represented Egypt at the FIBA U17 Women's World Cup in Hungary the same year, and then suited up for Egypt at this year's FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Spain. Other key attendees of the Youth Camp in 2021 and 2022 Youth Camps included Egypt's Saifaddin Hendawy, African U18 champion in 2022, Madagascar's Andri Lovasoa who captained the young Ankoays to a silver medal at the FIBA U18 African Championship 2022 and led them to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 in Hungary, as well as Malian Fatoumata Samake. The platform is a core component of FIBA Africa's development strategy, aimed at preparing players for the challenges of competition and providing training opportunities through the presence of scouts from various parts of the world.
