The Africa Women Basketball League 2023 Qualifiers in Group D will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from October 28 to November 4, 2023. and The formerly Africa Zone 5 Women’s Club Championship will potentially gather ten clubs from six East African countries.
The competition sees a few alterations in player registration under the new branding and format, as teams are now limited to only two players from outside the continent, the same as BAL in the men’s category. Hence, two of the four eligible foreign players must be from another African country.
The rationale for rebranding is that the league has to be better associated with the Basketball African League (BAL). However this one has not garnered NBA support as it is still under FIBA’s complete oversight.
This week-long competition is hosted by the Rwanda Basketball Federation, and the 2023 RBL finalists APR BBC and REG BBC will be joined by South Sudanese Nile Legends and Burundian Gladiators.
The 2022 Uganda NBL Champions UCU Lady Canons are waiting for the JKL Lady Dolphins, who are one game away from clinching the 2023 league title, to hit the road and join KPA from Kenya, as well as Vijana Queens and JKT Stars from Tanzania, in Kigali.
After the withdrawal of Zetech University, Kenya’s Equity Bank Hawks will also be taking part.
The preliminary rounds are set to take place at LDK Gymnasium, with the finals expected at Kigali’s BK Arena.
Following a third-place finish in the previous edition, The APR women’s basketball team placed eighth among the ten clubs in the continental tournament. Egypt’s Sporting Alexandria won the title.
The tournament finalists will make it to the FIBA Africa Women Basketball League, which will be held in Cairo, Egypt, from December 8th to December 17th, 2023.
