Sports minister Nelly Mukazayire has assured APR Basketball Club that the nation will be behind them as they compete at the upcoming regular season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) 2025. Rwanda’s representatives, APR, were placed in the Nile Conference which tips off on May 17 in Kigali. They will compete against Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli, South Africa’s Made by Basketball, and Kenya’s Nairobi City Thunder. ALSO READ: BAL2025: Basomingera tips sports as strategic industry for Africa “Our message today is to tell you that we are fully supporting you, that we are all behind you. We trust in your talents, you have the willingness and commitment and that's why you're so far here, and we trust that,” Mukazayire told the team when she visited its camp on Friday. She urged them to go to the court with a winning mentality, giving their maximum effort. “As the way people say, the whole village is behind you, and indeed we are very much behind you. BAL has grown into becoming really recognisable globally, and as a country we are so proud that this is an initiative that started with the vision of our President,” she said. ALSO READ: APR’s Shema and Boungou ruled out of BAL 2025 through injuries “So when we are playing down there as APR, as Rwandans, it's not only the game of basketball, it's also the vision we uphold. So it's not only that we're going to win as the talents, as the players in the game, but it's also to show the rest of the world, because as we know, that actually is possible,” she added. In general, BAL 2025 is featuring 12 teams, with the regular season divided into three conferences: - the Nile Conference, the Sahara Conference, and the Kalahari Conference. The first two conferences have already played, and now the teams belonging to the Nile Conference will soon be arriving in Kigali to compete.
