NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 26 – Kenyan champions Nairobi City Thunder have been placed in the Kalahari Conference of the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL) to be hosted in Pretoria, South Africa, from March 27 to April 5.
This comes after the BAL on Thursday announced the 12 teams and group phase schedule for this year’s season, which will tip off on Friday, March 27, at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.
Thunder will square it out with hosts Johannesburg Giants (South Africa), debutants Dar City from Tanzania, regulars APR of Rwanda, 2024 champions Petro de Luanda of Angola and Al Ahly Ly of Libya.
The Sahara Conference that will tip off April 24 to May 3 will feature hosts Fus de Rabat (Morocco), 2023 winners Al Ahly (Egypt), first-time participants JCA Kings (Côte d’Ivoire), Maktown Flyers (Nigeria), and Club Africain (Tunisia).
The league’s sixth season will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing a total of 42 games across the Kalahari Conference group phase from March 27 – Sunday, April 5 in Pretoria, the Sahara Conference group phase from Friday, April 24 – Sunday, May 3 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco, and the Playoffs and Finals from Friday, May 22 – Sunday, May 31 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Below is the complete list of the 12 participating teams by conference:
| Johannesburg Giants (South Africa)* | Fath Union Sport Rabat (FUS Rabat; Morocco) |
| Al Ahly Ly (Libya) | Al Ahly (Egypt) |
| Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club (APR; Rwanda) | ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal) |
| Dar City (Tanzania)* | Club Africain (Tunisia)* |
| Nairobi City Thunder (Kenya) | JCA Kings (Côte d’Ivoire)* |
| Petro de Luanda (Angola) | Maktown Flyers (Nigeria)* |
*First-time BAL participant
“Welcoming five new teams into the BAL family is a powerful sign of the league’s continued growth, the impact it is having on the African basketball ecosystem, and the incredible talent developing across the continent,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall.
“We look forward to engaging our passionate fans in South Africa, Morocco, Rwanda and those watching across Africa and around the world as we continue to establish the BAL as the continent’s preeminent sport and entertainment property.”
This season, the national league champions from seven countries – Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia – automatically qualified for the BAL.
The other five teams qualified through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October – December 2025.
Each conference will play a 15-game group phase during which each team will face the other five teams in its conference once.
In the season opener, APR will face Al Ahly Ly at 4:00 p.m. CAT while in the second game, the Johannesburg Giants will take on Dar City at 7:00 p.m. CAT.
Tickets for the Kalahari Conference group phase in Pretoria are on sale now at Ticketmaster.za.
Eight teams from across the two conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Kigali.
Tickets for the Sahara Conference group phase in Rabat and the Playoffs and Finals will be available soon.
Fans can register their interest in tickets at BAL.NBA.com. Fans who purchase tickets will also have free access to the BAL Fan Zone at each arena.
Additional information about the 2026 BAL season will be announced in the coming weeks.
