Your Weekly Dose of FIBA Africa Zone 5 News: From East African Cup action, now in its second edition, Dynamo BBC's Road to BAL bombshell, Dar City preparations ahead of next week’s Group Phase in Tanzania, as well as WBLA qualification news from around the Zone
Last Updated on
October 12, 2025
This decision follows the club's failure, within the time given, to meet some of the eligibility conditions set out in the competition rules, including the lifting of the suspension imposed by BAL during the club's disqualification at the BAL Kalahari Conference phase in March 2024.
"Therefore, and considering that the Road to BAL and Elite 16 competitions constitute exclusively qualifying stages for the (BAL), the participation of Dynamo BBC would not produce the expected effects for the current season. FEBABU, however, encourages the club to continue its efforts in order to regularise its situation and prepare for its full participation in the upcoming editions," the statement reads in part.
Ndikumana, who made the team of the tournament last year at the same competition, believes the talented squad they have assembled for this year's competition has what it takes to go the distance and retain the trophy in Bunjumbura.
The Patrick Nkurunziza-coached side defeated Kenya's silver medalists, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), 75-64 in Thursday's semi-final, 9 October. They play the Kenyan side Ulinzi Warriors on Friday in the championship match. Burundi's men's basketball has, over the years, risen to the top with top sides Dynamo BBC and Urunani a constant fixture in the Zone's competitions, most recently, the Road to BAL.
Burundi's Les Hippos topped a tough group A on point difference after all three sides picked a win each, while Ulinzi Warriors picked back-to-back victories to top group B. The two sides are through to the final. Hippos beat KPA for the second time in the tournament, 75-64, while the military side, Ulinzi, stunned a star-studded Umoja Basketball 68-64 to advance. Umoja now take on KPA in the bronze medal match while Tanzania's Stein Warriors play winless Gambela City for fifth.
The Kenyan league multiple champion missed out on last year's Women's Basketball League Africa finals in Dakar, a predicament that coach Ojukwu blamed on the level of investment other teams had made in recruitment and in preparing their teams for battle.
In Zanzibar last year, where KPA started as defending champions but finished in fourth place to miss out on the wild card spot, Ojukwu admitted that women's basketball had transformed significantly with the advent of WBLA, attracting top players.
“The level of competition in the Zones has tremendously improved, and Kenyan teams will need to do more if they are to surmount this challenge and qualify next time. Teams are recruiting heavily for these championships, and that's the level we need to match up,” Ojukwu told Mozzart Sport after missing out on a chance to be in Dakar.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Road to BAL East Division Group D hosts have roped in talented Ivorian international Souleyman Diabate, South Sudanese-Australian professional Angok Yak Deng (Deng Deng), American Raphiael Putney, and Nisre Zouzoua.
The quartet, should the reports be accurate, adds massive depth to a Dar side that boasts former NBA player Hasheem Thabeet and Dar league MVP Ally Faraj Abdallah, who lit up the Don Bosco court in last week’s playoffs.
Diabate, a two-time BAL winner, has previously turned out for Zamalek, Smouha, US Monastir, Al Ittihad, Petro de Luanda, and Al Ahly Ly, winning with Zamalek in 2021 and US Monastir in 2022. He finished as a runner-up in this year’s BAL.
Deng, meanwhile, was part of Al Ahli Tripoli’s 2024/25 West Division Elite 16 championship-winning squad before switching to Al Ittihad Alexandria for BAL 2025.
American veteran hooper Putney, who featured for Rivers Hoopers in BAL 2025, and the sensational Zouzoua, who has previously represented Guinea’s SLAC, ABC Fighters, and Fus Rabat, are set to make Dar City a genuine title contender in the qualification stages.
[Photography Courtesy of FIBA & KPA]
