ABIDJAN (Côte d'Ivoire) - 2024 was a year of memorable moments in African basketball, and the next twelve months look set to be even more exciting.
As always, most African basketball events will be streamed live on FIBA's Youtube channel, with additional coverage on FIBA's social media platforms.
Without further ado, FIBA.basketball brings you some African basketball highlights to look out for in 2025.
BAL Combine (Jan 10-12, Rabat, Morocco)
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) Combine Camp will take place from Friday, Jan. 10 – Sunday, Jan. 12 at the Ibn Yassine Omnisports in Rabat, Morocco.
The three-day scouting event will feature more than 30 aspiring players from Africa, Europe, the U.S. and around the world taking part in anthropometric and athletic testing, positional skill development, and 5-on-5 games in front of team executives, coaches and scouts.
Window 3 of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers (end of February; hosts yet to be announced)
Each of the 20 national teams vying for a place at the 2025 AfroBasket have played at least three games each in the two previous qualifying windows in February and November 2024, but it's the crucial February games that will determine who makes it to the final round.
BAL SEASON 5 (April to June, Rabat, Dakar, Kigali and Pretoria)
Africa's premier basketball clubs competition will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year with four African cities hosting the league from April to June.
The 12 teams will be divided into three conferences of four teams each. Each conference will play a 12-game group phase during which each team will face the other three teams in its conference twice.
The Kalahari Conference group phase will take place from April 5 – Sunday, April 13 in Rabat in Morocco.
The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from Saturday, April 26 – Sunday, May 4 at the Dakar Arena in Senegal.
The Nile Conference group phase will take place from Saturday, May 17 – Sunday, May 25 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Eight teams from across the three conferences will qualify for the Playoffs in Pretoria, South Africa, which will tip off on Friday, June 6 and culminate with the 2025 BAL Finals on Saturday, June 14.
FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup (June 28 - July 6, Lausanne, Switzerland)
2024 FIBA U18 AfroBasket champions Mali and runners-up Cameroon will represent Africa at the biennial U19 world showpiece in Lausanne, Switzerland.
FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup (July 12 - 20, Brno, Czechia)
Perennial U18 Women's AfroBasket champions Mali, the only nation from the continent to ever reach the semi-finals of the U19 Women's Basketball World Championship, will be joined by Nigeria as Africa's representatives at the Brno event.
Women's AfroBasket (July 25 - August 3, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire)
The biennial women's AfroBasket will be held in Côte d'Ivoire for the first time.
The twelve-nation competition will see Nigeria attempt to become the first country to win a record fifth consecutive African title.
After finishing third in Yaoundé in 2015, the D'Tigresses, who are currently ranked eighth in the world, have since won the 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023 editions of the African Championship.
AfroBasket (12-24 August, Angola)
The quadrennial African championship returns to Angola for the first time since 2007.
The 16-nation championship will see 15 nations attempt to prevent Tunisia from winning a third consecutive AfroBasket title since 2017.
FIBA U16 AfroBasket Championships (hosts and schedule yet to be determined)
The biennial U16 AfroBasket (Boys and Girls) will serve as qualifiers for the 2026 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup in both categories.
Host countries and dates are yet to be confirmed.
2025 WBLA (December, host city yet to be confirmed)
The 12-team Women's Basketball League Africa (WBLA) is expected to take place later this year, tentatively in December.
Mozambique's Ferroviario de Maputo won the last edition of the tournament last month in Dakar, Senegal, after defeating Egyptian giants Al Ahly SC 81-72 in the final.
Other important events:
While dates and venues are yet to be officially confirmed, the year will also see other major events in African basketball, including the Road to BAL, FIBA Africa Youth Camps, WBLA qualifiers and the 2025 Women's AfroBasket qualifiers.
FIBA