The Nile Conference of the 2024 Baseketball Africa League jumps ball on April 19 at the Hassan Mostafa Indoor Arena in Cairo, Egypt with City Oilers of Uganda, Libya’s Al Ahly LY, Bangui Sports Club of Central Africa Republic and Egyptian champion Al Ahly set to battle for a place in the playoffs set to take place in Kigali.
It promises to be yet another breathtaking showcase put together by Amadou Gallo Fall and his brilliant team at BAL.
The new basketball fiesta is a steadily growing storm taking over the beautiful sports-loving continent.
While BAL has been steadily gaining momentum since its inaugural season in 2021, the recent addition of the Kalahari Conference has brought both excitement and clear evidence of the viable room for new markets and expansion for the league.
The newly-instituted conference, hosted at the SunBet Arena in the South African city of Pretoria, featured sold-out opening and closing games in the 8,000-capacity arena with celebrities and entertainment stars engaging with the league courtside and off the court.
Moroccan champions FUS Rabat, Angolan powerhouse Petro De Luanda, new hometown basketball favourites Cape Town Tigers and Dynamos Basketball club from Burundi – who put our sour taste in a sweet pudding– treated basketball fans on the continent to exhilarating games that came down to the wire, showing just how far African basketball has come from the NBA Africa game hosted at the same Arena in 2018.
The Kalahari Conference has provided a platform for young and upcoming players to shine, as we saw a record number of debutants and the continuation of the BAL ELEVATE program.
The stage continues to get bigger for the further elevation of African basketball on the world stage. However, the Kalahari conference had its fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly scenarios.
The Good
The introduction of Kalahari Conference in itself was a big win for BAL season 4.
South Africa has been the home of the NBA since 2010, the resident of the oldest NBA office on the continent and played host to the NBA Africa games from 2015 to 2018, with multiple grassroots programs.
NBA fans in South Africa ended their long wait for a taste of the Basketball Africa League with another great addition, the BAL ADVANCE – the partnership program between the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the BAL.
The program offered players professional development opportunities with broader knowledge in the sports industry, including in event management, broadcasting, analytics, technology, and the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The program also exposed athletes to the sports eco-system in Africa beyond just the action of the court.
The capacity-building initiatives were not just limited to the BAL players as key stakeholders including journalists upped their skills with the maiden BAL Media workshop. Multi-award winning Senior NBA writer for Andscape, Marc J. Spears facilitated the session, introducing journalists to the essentials of educating viewers and listeners with facts and storytelling whenever they report their opinion. He also anchored deliberations about the type of issues that journalists are all tackling today.
The BAL Daily Show hosted by Silalei Agalo Shani was a brilliant add-on to the content served by the BAL media team.
The former Kenyan Women’s Basketball team captain made everyone not just glued to their screens but made the next episode of the show worth waiting for.
The influx and contribution of African sports personalities, particularly South African entertainers, gracing live BAL games courtside and in promoting events outside was ‘a banger’.
Sho Madjozi, Pearl Thusi, Gigi LaMayne with supermodel Maria Borges and NFL star Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah were visibly seen during games and active on social media.
🏈 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the house‼🇿🇦️ #BALCelebRow #BAL4 pic.twitter.com/ViEvdjXPCV
— Basketball Africa League (@theBAL) March 17, 2024
The collaboration with AfroFuture added a missing piece to the puzzle for BAL 4 as fans had the best of both worlds with their passion and energy in the arena and the electric atmosphere for fans watching on screens from all corners of the continent.
The Bad
While everything was coming together off the court, the teams brought their A-game, showcasing high-level skills and athleticism. However, the journey didn’t come without its challenges.
The forfeiture of Dynamo’s game against FUS Rabat due to non-compliance with the league rules on uniform requirements came as a huge shock.
The Burundian champions produced a spectacular perofmance against the Cape Town Tigers on opening night and the news of their withdrawal for non-basketball reasons was a huge blow to the fans who were already blown away by Israel Otobo Baka and Dhieu Deng’s performances.
Although it was properly handled by BAL, the incident once again brought to the fore the socio-political and compliance difficulties experienced with doing business in Africa.
We continue to hope in the belief that BAL’s strong stance is a testament to a strong structure and system that promises growth of the league and basketball on the continent.
The Ugly
The disappointing run of the Cape Town Tigers.
The home boys managed only a consolatory win which came in their final match of the season with Samkele Cele averaging 20.5 per game in the three games kept spectators on their seats.
However, the brilliant South African representative will now have to adopt a new team in time for the playoffs after they finished 3rd in the Kalahari Conference behind FUS Rabat and Petro De Luanda.
In conclusion, the Kalahari Conference of the 2024 Basketball Africa League was a mixed and eventful experience that showcased the immense potential of African basketball and the passion of its players and fans.
As the league continues to grow and evolve, it will be important for stakeholders to work towards making the BAL a premier destination for basketball in Africa and beyond.
It is time to switch focus to Cairo where the Nile conference game will take place from April 19th- 27th, 2024.
