The 12 teams set to compete in this year's Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA), the premier continental women's club competition, have converged in Cairo with eyes on the title, currently held by Mozambique's Ferroviario de Maputo. The tournament, which is taking place from Friday 5 to Sunday 14 December, is returning to the north African nation for the first time since Alexandria hosted the 2023 edition, when Sporting Club Alexandria won the title at home. The last time the tournament was held in the capital was in 2019, when the current title holders won. Al Ahly Sporting Club are hosting this year's tournament and are hoping to win their first title at home. APR crowned the 2025 FIBA Zone V Club champions However, three-time champions Ferroviario are expected to be their toughest opponents. Last year's bronze medallists, Rwanda's APR, have returned after their debut last year, this time qualifying as Zone 5 champions. They are joined by the national champions, Rwanda Energy Group (REG), who qualified as the second team from Zone Five after reaching the semi-finals in 2023. Meanwhile, the 2023 runners-up, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), are back after missing last year's continental showpiece, completing the three teams drawn from Zone Five. ASC Ville de Dakar, last year's semi-finalists who lost to APR and finished fourth, are back chasing glory for Senegal, as are Cameroon’s FAP and DR Congo’s CNSS, who are ranked 11^(th) and 7^(th) respectively in the 2024 edition. Two-time champions Nigeria's First Bank are also back on the continental stage after a six-year absence. They qualified alongside last year's debutants, the Friend's Basketball Association (FBA), who went on to finish fifth. Newcomers Sporting Clube de Luanda of Angola, who secured their place in Cairo by topping Zone 6 Group E, and Bravehearts of Malawi, who placed second in the zone, are looking to take the competition by storm. Teams are placed in three groups, and the top two in each group, as well as the two third-place teams with the best point differential, will qualify for the knockout stages. The eliminated teams will play classification games. 2025 WBLA - Participating teams Al Alhy (EGY- HOSTS) Sporting Clube Luanda (ANG) C.N.S.S (COD) F.A.P (CMR) K.P.A (KEN) Ferroviario Maputo (MOZ) REG (RWA) APR (RWA) AS Ville de Dakar (SEN) FirstBank (NGR) Friend’s Basketball Association (CIV) Bravehearts BBC (MLW)
