Nairobi City Thunder are targeting to improve on their debut performance in Basketball Africa League,BAL, after being one of 12 teams that have been confirmed for this year’s competition.
The twelve teams have been divided into two conferences:Kalahari and Sahara.
Nairobi City Thunder will target knock out phase of the competition following last year’s performance that saw the club win one of their six matches they played.
Pooled in Sahara Conference the reigining Kenya Basketball Federations men’s premier league champions will face BAL defending champions Angola’s Petro De Luanda, debutants Dar City from Tanzania ,Johanessburg giants of Southa Africa,Libya’s Al Ahly Ly and Rwanda’s APR.
The Kalahari Conference Matches will be held in Pretoria South Africa from March 27th-April 5th while the Sahara Conference fixtures will be held in Rabat from April 24th-May 3rd.
Sahara Conference is composed of Fath Union Sport Rabat,Al Ahly,ASC Ville De Dakar,Club African,JCA Kings and Macktown Flyers.
“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, including Nairobi City Thunder, qualified through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa across the continent from October – December 2025.
Eight teams from across the two conferences will qualify for the Playoffs scheduled for Kigali May 22-31st
