BAL 2025 Scheduled for April, Rwanda to Host ‘Nile Conference’

The 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) tournament, now in its fifth edition, will begin on April 4 in Morocco and conclude on June 14 in South Africa.

Unlike the previous four editions, where Rwanda hosted the finals, the country will now host the Nile Conference games from May 17 to May 25, 2025.

This year, the competition will follow a similar structure to last season, with three conferences:

• The first conference will take place in Rabat, Morocco, from April 5 to April 13, 2025.

• The second conference will be held in Dakar, Senegal, from April 26 to May 4, 2025.

• The final Nile Conference will be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 17 to May 25, 2025.

For the first time in BAL history, the finals will be played in Johannesburg, South Africa, from June 6 to June 14, 2025.

Currently, the tournament is at the Elite 16 stage, the final round of qualifiers for the group phase (conference stage). Teams have been divided into two groups, with each group consisting of eight teams playing in different cities. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the conference stage, joining eight pre-qualified teams from selected countries.

The countries with automatic qualification are Angola, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa, and Rwanda.

So far, the teams that have secured spots in BAL 2025 include:

• Petro de Luanda (Angola) – reigning champions

• Al Ittihad Alexandria (Egypt)

• ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal) – making their debut

• APR BBC (Rwanda) – representing the country for the second consecutive time

• US Monastir (Tunisia)

• Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) – winners of Nigeria’s championship.