Basketball Africa League: All about the 2026 edition

Teams and cities

The 6th edition of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) will soon keep the world of the orange ball on the African continent in suspense. There will be two conferences. First, the Kalahari Conference which will bring together six teams: Johannesburg Giants (South Africa), Al Ahly (Libya), Rwandan Patriotic Army (Rwanda), Dar City (Tanzania), Nairobi City Thunder (Kenya), Petro de Luanda (Angola). These teams will be based in South Africa with meetings scheduled from March 27 to April 5.

As for the Sahara Conference, there will be: Fath Union Sport Rabat (Morocco), Al Ahly (Egypt), ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal), Club Africain (Tunisia), Jeunesse Club Abidjan Kings (Ivory Coast), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), with meetings scheduled in Morocco from April 24 to May 3.

The top 4 teams from each conference will qualify for the play-offs, commonly known as the Final 8, for a final tournament from 22 to 31 May 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda. It is at the end of this tournament that we will know the successor to Al Ahly Tripoli, reigning champion, who will be absent.

The newcomers

Note that for this edition, there will be new clubs. Dar City will be the first Tanzanian representative in the history of the competition. Four other newcomers will also be in the running: JCA Kings (Côte d'Ivoire), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), Johannesburg Giants (South Africa) and Club Africain (Tunisia). Petro de Luanda, winner in 2024, will be present for a 6th consecutive edition, a record.

Format and cities

Regarding the format of the meetings, each team will face the other 5 members of their league once. Thus, in each conference, we will have 15 matches. After this warm-up round, the first 4 teams of each conference will be at the final tournament.

The cities selected are Johannesburg (South Africa) for the Kalahari Conference, and Rabat (Morocco) for the Sahara Conference. The Final 8 will take place in Kigali, Rwanda. Note that for this 2026 edition, Dakar will not receive a match for the first time since the beginning of the BAL.