The Rwanda Basketball League 2025 will begin on Friday, January 24, with 8 teams starting their quest to dethrone the back-to-back defending champions, APR, in the men’s category, while REG Women will be aiming for their 4th title since 2021.
The Rwanda Basketball League will tip off the 2025 season this Friday at LDK Gymnasium, with only 9 teams in the men’s category following Flame’s failure to meet the financial criteria set by the league regulator for top-flight teams.
Flame, promoted from Division 2 last season and made up mostly of youth players, focuses on development rather than competition.
The Federation chose not to replace them, leaving 9 teams to compete for the league crown.On the way to professionalizing the Rwanda Basketball League, teams must provide proof of 100 million Rwandan francs or a verified funding source to register players. Failure to do so will result in demotion to a lower league.
The Rwanda Basketball League, one of the most competitive basketball leagues in Africa, will tip off the 2025 season with 8 teams: Patriots, REG BBC, Kepler, Espoir BBC, Orion, UGB, Azomco, and Tigers, all vying to end APR’s two years of league dominance.
The back-to-back defending champions and league record holders (15 titles), APR Basketball Club, will begin their campaign against Orion, not Flame, as previously reported.
The army side is poised to challenge the 8 other clubs seriously, having retained its key players and added some of the best in the league, including Antino Jackson Alvalezes, to strengthen the roster as they will also compete in the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Last season’s runners-up, the Patriots, will face the newly promoted Azomco in the opening game on Friday at 6 p.m. at Lycée de Kigali Gymnasium (LDK).
FERWABA scheduled most games at LDK, with the regular season set to end on June 29. As usual, the crucial games will take place at the season’s tail end.
In the women’s category, Rwanda Energy Group (REG), the three-time champion and reigning champion, will begin their quest for a fourth title since the club’s inception in 2021.
The Super Cup winners will play UR Huye on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the league opener, and their main competition this season is expected to come from APR, their long-time rivals.
APR WBBC will play UR Kigali two hours after the REG-UR Huye game, with both games scheduled at LDK.
For the first time in Rwanda Basketball League history, a record 11 teams will compete in the women’s category: APR, REG, Kepler, The Hoops, UR Kigali, UR Huye, IPRC Huye, GS Marie Reine, GS Gahini, Azomco, and EAUR.
This is the largest number of teams in the women’s league, surpassing the 9 teams in the men’s category.
