ABIDJAN (Cote d'Ivoire) - FIBA Africa held its first Central Board meeting for the 2023-2027 cycle over the weekend in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

FIBA Africa President Anibal Manave and newly-elected Ivorian Basketball President Moussa Diarra opened proceedings by offering a warm welcome to the delegates.

In attendance were FIBA Foundation president, Hamane Niang, FIBA Central Board members Pascale Mugwaneza and Jean Michel Ramaroson, Players' Commission members Clarisse Machanguana and Hamchetou Maiga and presidents of  FIBA Africa 's seven sub-zones.

The two-day event (March 21-23) was chaired by FIBA Africa President Anibal Manave and FIBA Executive Director Africa Alphonse Bile while FIBA President Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani and FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis addressed the delegates via video conference. 

In addition to recommendations and reports presented during the gathering, the FIBA Africa Central Board deliberated and announced the following activities:

FIBA Africa Continental Cups 2024-25

Cote d'ivoire was awarded the hosting rights for the 2025 FIBA Women's AfroBasket. The 12-nation tournament will take place in July next year in Abidjan.

The West African country will organise a FIBA continental cup for the first time since the 2013 FIBA AfroBasket.

Delegates were informed that the 2025 FIBA Women's AfroBasket Qualifiers will take place over three qualifying windows from July 2024 to February 2025.

The 2023 Women's AfroBasket semifinalists (Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Rwanda) are automatically qualified  to the next biennial African Championship.

U18 African Championships

South Africa was awarded the hosting rights for this year's FIBA U18 African Championships (Women/Men) from August 9-18. 

While the men's event will comprise ten countries, twelve nations will compete in the women's category.

The teams that reached the semifinals of the 2022 FIBA U18 African Championships are automatically qualified to this year' events. Those teams (Women and Men) are Angola, Egypt, Madagascar and Mali. 

Meanwhile, the qualifiers for the U18 African Championships will run between April and June.   

Other National team competitions Qualifiers and AWBL

Reports were received on the recent Qualifiers for the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket as well as the inaugural edition of the FIBA Africa Women's Basketball Africa League (AWBL). 

ABWL rebranded 

The FIBA Africa Central Board seized the opportunity to announce the rebranding of the annual AWBL, which will be known as Women's Basketball Champions League Africa (WBCLA). 

And, Morocco will host the 2024 WBCLA in December.

Increase of FIBA Africa Executive Committe

The FIBA Africa Central Board proposed an increase of its Executive Committee team from 7 to 9 or 11. This decision is subject to approval from FIBA Central Board.

Next FIBA Africa Board

The next FIBA Africa Board meeting will take place in Kigali, Rwanda in June. on the sidelines of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Playoffs. 

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About FIBA
FIBA (fiba.basketball) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 212 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognized as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

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