SHEFFIELD (Julio Chitunda’s African Message) - It’s been a hectic year, and we can’t deny the signs of a new era in African basketball.

Unlike the previous two years, in which Angola won most African competitions, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt (U16 Men) made sure to write a new chapter in the continent basketball, leaving former continental champions Angola with a lot of work to do.

Mali remained the dominant force at you level, winning the U16 AfroBasket Women for the third in a row.

But the biggest moment belonged to Nigeria.

After successive disappointing continental campaigns, Nigeria regrouped to claim Africa’s flagship competition for the very first time, beating Angola in the AfroBasket 2015 final in Rades, Tunisia.

Nigeria’s continental title not only denied Angola their 12th continental title in almost three decades, but it also secured the Western Africans a place in next year’s Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On the other hand, Angola have a second chance of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time since 2008 by competing in one of three next summer’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

As well as crowning Nigeria the continent new champions and offering some breathtaking moments, this year’s AfroBasket offered significant signs of the game popularity.

Remember the Semi-Final between hosts Tunisia and Angola?

Well, that was an attendance record in an African basketball as more than 11.000 fans filled the magnificent Salle Omnisport de Rades.

Tunisia v Angola (AfroBasket 2015)

The result may have not been what local fans hoped for, but they deserve a round of applause for their tireless support for the team. Needles to say that social media has played a big part as well in the tournament popularity.

Nigeria international Chamberlain Oguchi was a deserving Most Valuable Player of the competition for his inspiring performances, particularly as Nigeria played the entire tournament without injured Ike Diogu - the team leading scorer .

At AfroBasket Women 2015, held in Cameroon capital city of Yaounde, Senegal reminded us why resilience and tenacity always pays off.

They closed their Group Phase campaign with defeats to Angola and Nigeria, but entered the Final Phase with a sense of desperation to win the AfroBasket Women for the first time since 2009.

Senegal (AfroBasket Women 2015)

First, they upset Angola in the Semi-Final before outplaying hosts Cameroon in the championship game.

And, as result Senegal secured the only automatic qualification place on offer for African teams for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Aya Traore was named Africa’s Most Valuable Player for the second time, and Senegal return to the Olympics for the first time since 2000.

In Bamako, Egypt denied hosts Mali to win the continental U16 crown and qualify for next year’s FIBA U17 World Championship.

But this year’s FIBA Africa calendar couldn’t finish with the annual clubs competitions.

Both tournament were held in the Angolan capital of Luanda, and it was business as usual for the hosts.

While Primeiro D’Agosto won the Women’s competition, Petro de Luanda clinched the title of Africa club competition for the first time since 2006.

And, there will be a lot more to come. Let 2016 commence.

Julio Chitunda
FIBA

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