The next eight months promise to bring entertainment to the Basketball enthusiasts as the sport presents a series of star-studded competitions coming to Kigali. From the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs to the All-Star Game, fans anticipate yet another season of breathtaking basketball experience –both local and international. Times Sport brings you the top 5 basketball events that will take place in Rwanda in 2023. BAL playoffs The 2023 BAL playoffs will unfold at the BK Arena from May 21-27, bringing together eight clubs from various countries across the continent. Rwanda Energy Group (REG) is one of the clubs that already booked their tickets to the playoffs after finishing third in the Sahara Conference regular season that took place in Dakar, Senegal in March. Mali’s Stade Malien, As Douanes from Senegal and Abidjan Basket Club which also qualified for the playoffs from the Sahara Conference while four more teams that will qualify from the Nile Conference slated for April 26 to May 6, will join them later. The Nile Conference regular season will bring together debutants Al Ahly of host nation Egypt, Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), BAL 2022 runners-up Petro de Luanda (Angola), City Oilers (Uganda), Ferroviário da Beira (Mozambique) and Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (Guinea). Women’s Afrobasket 2023 The FIBA Women's Afrobasket tournament, the top women's basketball tournament for continental national teams, is coming to Kigali between July 28 and August 6. The tournament is staged every two years and features the top 12 national teams in Africa. Teams that qualified for the showpiece so far are DR Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Egypt, Cameroon and Rwanda who have an automatic ticket as hosts. The remaining five will be decided through zonal qualifications. Basketball league playoffs The Rwanda Basketball League playoffs are becoming more competitive as the winning team will not only be crowned league champions but they will also book a ticket to represent Rwanda in the 2024 Basketball Africa League. The playoffs may take place later this year but the dates are not confirmed yet since the league is ongoing. The top four teams play the playoffs after which the finalists lock horns in best-of-seven playoffs finals. Giants of Africa festival Kigali will host the inaugural Giants of Africa Festival slated for August 13-19, the foundation has announced. The week-long celebration of basketball, education, culture, and entertainment will unite more than 250 youth from 16 of the countries that the foundation has visited across Africa. The festival will use basketball as the tool to educate and empower African youth to “dream big”, according to the foundation’s press statement released on Monday, January 30. On the agenda of the festival include the opening ceremony celebration, an educational forum on International Youth Day bringing together over 2,000 Rwandan youth and a closing concert, all at the BK Arena. Giants of Africa is an initiative that seeks to provide African youth access to professional basketball training and to empower them to achieve their full potential beyond the game. All-star game The all-star game is set to take place after the Rwanda Basketball League playoffs are concluded. It brings together the best of star players of the league, organised in two different teams which play against each other.
