Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, and Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, will host the two 2026 Road to BAL Elite 16 tournaments, the FIBA Regional Africa Office has confirmed. Road to BAL tournaments are the qualifier competitions for the Basketball Africa League (BAL). It is divided into two divisions. The West Division Elite 16 tournament in Praia will take place from November 11 to 16, while the East Division Elite 16 tournament will be held in Nairobi from November 18 to 23. This will be the second consecutive year that the tournament has been held in Nairobi, following last season's East Division Elite 16, in which the hosts, Nairobi City Thunder, and Cape Verde’s Kriol Star, secured the two places available for the 2025 BAL season. Rwandan teams have an automatic qualification to the BAL final tournament, as Rwanda will continue to serve as a host nation for the next few years under the partnership between the BAL and Visit Rwanda, one of the league’s key sponsors. This year, Rwanda Basketball League champions APR Basketball Club will represent the country, just as they have in the past two seasons of the competition. As of Friday 31 October, the teams that have qualified for the West Division Elite 16 are Kriol Star (Cape Verde), Al Ahly Benghazi (Libya), Centre de Référence de Basketball de Tombouctou (Mali), Jeuness Club d'Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), Spintex Knights (Ghana), Moanda Basketball (Gabon), ASB New Generation (DR Congo) and New Tech Université Club (Central African Republic). The first three teams to qualify for the East Division Elite 16 were Nairobi City Thunder (Kenya), Dar City Basketball (Tanzania) and Namuwongo Blazers (Uganda).
