Basketball Africa League unveils 2026 season schedule and participating teams

The Basketball Africa League has announced the 12 teams and full group phase schedule for its 2026 season, which will tip off on Friday, 27 March at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa.

The league’s sixth campaign will feature top club sides from 12 African countries competing in 42 games across three stages. The Kalahari Conference group phase will run from 27 March to 5 April in Pretoria, followed by the Sahara Conference group phase from 24 April to 3 May at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco. The season will culminate with the Playoffs and Finals from 22 to 31 May at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.

Among the 12 teams are Dar City, the first-ever BAL participant from Tanzania, as well as first-time entrants JCA Kings of Côte d’Ivoire, Maktown Flyers of Nigeria, Johannesburg Giants of South Africa and Club Africain of Tunisia. They are joined by returning sides including 2024 champions Petro de Luanda of Angola, the only team to have qualified for all six BAL seasons, and 2023 champions Al Ahly of Egypt.

Teams by conference

Kalahari Conference

• Johannesburg Giants (South Africa)

• Fath Union Sport Rabat (Morocco)

• Al Ahly Ly (Libya)

• Al Ahly (Egypt)

• Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club (Rwanda)

• ASC Ville de Dakar (Senegal)

Sahara Conference

• Dar City (Tanzania)

• Club Africain (Tunisia)

• Nairobi City Thunder (Kenya)

• JCA Kings (Côte d’Ivoire)

• Petro de Luanda (Angola)

• Maktown Flyers (Nigeria)

“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, national league champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia qualified automatically. The remaining five teams secured their places through the Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments organised by FIBA Africa between October and December 2025.

Each conference will stage a 15-game group phase, with each team playing the other five sides once. The opening game will see Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club face Al Ahly Ly at 4:00 pm CAT, followed by Johannesburg Giants against Dar City at 7:00 pm CAT.

Eight teams from across both conferences will progress to the Playoffs in Kigali, where the 2026 BAL champion will be crowned.