What is the BAL?
The Basketball Africa League is the premier professional basketball competition on the African continent, and the first league the NBA has ever operated outside North America. A joint venture between the NBA and FIBA, it was announced in February 2019 during NBA All-Star Weekend and tipped off on 16 May 2021 at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda.
Twelve clubs from 12 African countries compete across 42 games each season. Teams are split into two conferences, Kalahari and Sahara, before the top eight advance to a single-elimination playoff bracket. The champion earns the right to represent Africa at the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
How it works
The season plays out across three stages in three countries. Host cities rotate from year to year.
Road to BAL: FIBA-organised qualifying tournaments that give clubs from across the continent a pathway into the main competition. Seven teams qualify directly through their domestic leagues, whilst five earn their spots through the Road to BAL.
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Kalahari Conference: Six teams compete in a round-robin group stage. This season it took place in Pretoria, South Africa, from 27 March to 5 April.
Sahara Conference: The remaining six teams face off in their own round-robin group. This season it is being held at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco, from 24 April to 3 May.
Playoffs and Final: The top four from each conference advance to an eight-team single-elimination bracket. Kigali, Rwanda hosts the playoffs and finals this season from 22 to 31 May under a long-term agreement with the Rwanda Development Board.
Every champion
In five completed seasons, five different teams from five different countries have won the championship. That level of parity is rare in professional sport, but one pattern stands out: North African clubs have dominated. Three of the five titles have gone to Egyptian or Tunisian sides, and a Libyan club took the most recent one. Only Petro de Luanda of Angola has broken through from sub-Saharan Africa.
2021 – Zamalek (Egypt): Won the inaugural title by defeating US Monastir of Tunisia in Kigali.
2022 – US Monastir (Tunisia): Returned to the final and claimed the trophy, making it two North African champions in two years.
2023 – Al Ahly SC (Egypt): The second Egyptian club to lift the BAL trophy, coached by Spain’s Agustín Julbe.
2024 – Petro de Luanda (Angola): The first sub-Saharan African champion, overcoming a 12-point halftime deficit in the final against Al Ahly Ly of Libya.
2025 – Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya): The first team to fight its way through the Road to BAL qualifiers all the way to the championship. The finals were held outside Rwanda for the first time, in Pretoria.
The 2026 season
The sixth BAL season is underway. The Kalahari Conference has wrapped up in Pretoria, with the Sahara Conference now running in Rabat through 3 May. Playoffs and the final head to Kigali from 22 May. This season features 12 teams across 12 countries, five making their debut.
RSSB Tigers (Rwanda), Petro de Luanda (Angola), Al Ahly Ly (Libya), and Dar City (Tanzania) qualified from the Kalahari Conference. Nairobi City Thunder and the Johannesburg Giants were eliminated. The defending champions, Al Ahli Tripoli, did not qualify after finishing second in their domestic league.
In Rabat, Club Africain of Tunisia have started strong at 2–0 after edging Al Ahly 69–68 on a last-second three-pointer from Oussama Marnaoui. FUS Rabat also picked up their second straight win in front of a packed home arena, whilst Nigeria’s Maktown Flyers secured their first ever BAL victory by beating JCA Kings 76–68.
Five teams are making their BAL debut this season: Club Africain, JCA Kings (Côte d’Ivoire), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), Dar City (Tanzania), and the Johannesburg Giants (South Africa). Petro de Luanda qualified for a record sixth consecutive season.
The NBA connection
The BAL is a direct pipeline to the NBA. In 2024, Cameroonian centre Ulrich Chomche became the first former BAL player to be drafted. A year later, Khaman Maluach was picked 10th overall, making him the highest-drafted BAL alumnus in history.
Several players with NBA experience feature in this season’s rosters, including Damion Baugh, Donovan Williams, and Mangok Mathiang. Games are officiated by a combination of FIBA and NBA G League referees, and NBA scouts attend BAL events regularly.
The league’s ownership reflects its ambitions. Former United States President Barack Obama holds a minority stake in NBA Africa, which was valued at $1 billion when it was formed in 2021.
What is next
In September 2025, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the intention to transition the BAL into a closed league with permanent franchises, potentially ten fixed teams and two annual wild cards, as early as 2027. If realised, this would mark a significant shift from the current qualifying-based model and signal that the NBA’s investment in African basketball is not slowing down.
