By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
The Basketball Africa League will tip off its sixth season on Friday, 27 March, returning to familiar territory in South Africa, Morocco and Rwanda as the competition continues its steady rise as one of the continent’s premier sporting properties.
The 2026 season will feature 12 clubs from 12 African nations, competing across 42 games before a champion is crowned in Kigali on Sunday, 31 May. The opening fixtures will be staged at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, a venue that last season played host to one of the most significant finals in league history.
For the first time, teams will be split into two conferences of six. Each side will contest a 15 game group phase, facing the other five teams in their conference once. The Kalahari Conference will run in Pretoria from 27 March to 5 April, while the Sahara Conference will take place in Rabat at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex from 24 April to 3 May.
Eight teams will advance to the Playoffs, scheduled for 22 to 31 May at BK Arena in Kigali, where the league’s sixth champion will be decided.
BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall said the choice of host nations reflected both basketball passion and long term growth. He noted that returning to South Africa, Morocco and Rwanda underlined the strong sporting cultures in those markets, while reinforcing the league’s ambition to elevate African talent and present it on a global stage.
FIBA Africa President Anibal Manave echoed those sentiments, highlighting the continued importance of the Road to the BAL as a competitive pathway for clubs across the continent. He described the momentum entering the sixth season as evidence of the league’s expanding influence on players, clubs and communities.
Season 6 follows a landmark fifth campaign that raised the bar on and off the court. In June 2025, Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli captured their first BAL title with a commanding 88 to 67 victory over Petro de Luanda at SunBet Arena, denying the Angolan side a historic back to back championship. It was the first BAL final staged outside Rwanda and symbolised the league’s widening footprint.
Led by a dominant display from Assem Marei and supported by Fabian White Jr and Jean Jacques Boissy, Al Ahli completed a remarkable debut season, becoming the first Libyan club to lift the trophy. Their triumph capped a competition that reached fans in 214 countries and territories, set an attendance record of more than 140,000 spectators and generated over 1.2 billion impressions across NBA and BAL digital platforms.
Beyond the games, the BAL will again emphasise its blend of sport and culture. Season 6 will feature music, fashion and lifestyle elements around match days, alongside appearances by prominent entertainers and influencers. The league will also roll out development and social impact initiatives in host markets and selected African countries, including youth clinics, coaching and officiating programmes, literacy projects and BAL4HER activities aimed at advancing gender equality in sport.
The full list of participating teams will be announced in due course, but anticipation is already building. After a season that delivered new champions and new records, the BAL enters its sixth year with confidence, continuity and a growing belief that African club basketball has only just begun to show its full potential.