With five countries guaranteed automatic qualification to the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket finals in Kigali, seven more tickets are up for grabs and to be contested for ahead of the forthcoming qualifiers scheduled to take place across the continent over the next few months in an attempt to advance to the finals of the biennial event. Three-time defending champions Nigeria, Mali, Cameroon and Senegal have secured their places to the finals by virtue of reaching the semi-finals of the 2021 Women's AfroBasket in Yaounde, Cameroon while Rwanda will be granted a place in the Championship finals as host nation. Weekend Sport brings you things that you need to know about the 2023 Women's AfroBasket Qualifiers. When are the qualifiers taking place? The 2023 Women's AfroBasket Qualifiers get underway in February and will conclude in June before qualified teams head to Kigali for the finals scheduled from July 26 to August 6. Where are the qualifiers taking place? The first teams to open their plight for a place in the 12-nation Women's AfroBasket will gather in Kampala, Uganda for FIBA Africa Zone 5 qualifiers. From February 14-19, hosts Uganda, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan will battle for the only spot on offer for the Final Round. In the Southern part of Africa, Zimbabwe will host FIBA Africa Zone 6 qualifiers from February 20-28 with participating teams including hosts Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. What's at stake Not only will the teams contest for tickets to the 2023 Women's AfroBasket finals in Kigali, they will also be vying to reach the 2024 Paris Olympics. Qualifiers Background Kenya, the current Zone 5 title holders, and Egypt represented Zone 5 in the 2021 Women's Afrobasket. Two years ago, in Kigali, Kenya booked their ticket to a second straight FIBA Women's AfroBasket and seventh overall when they defeated favourites Egypt 99-83. However, in the Final Round in Yaounde, Egypt finished sixth after winning three of their six games. Egypt were denied a place in the Semi-Finals after a 67-61 loss to hosts Cameroon. Kenya, on the other hand, finished ninth. Two tickets are on offer for Zone 6 for the final round while the winner in Kampala’s Zone 5 qualifiers will qualify automatically for the finals. Former African champions Angola and Mozambique represented the Zone in the last edition of the Women's AfroBasket. The schedule and host countries of the remaining FIBA Africa Zones will be announced at a later date. Who’s playing in which Zone? Most of the seven FIBA Africa Zones are expected to host regional qualifiers over the next few months. The qualifiers will be held in the zones below. Zone 1: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Zone 2: Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Zone 3: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria and Togo. Zone 4: Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe. Zone 5: Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Zone 6: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Zone 7: Comoros, Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles. The qualifiers have become a big deal as teams are now pushing to reach the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket finals whose champions will represent Africa at Paris 2024.
