Last weekend, FIBA-Africa held its first Central Council meeting, marking the start of the 2023-2027 cycle. The event was attended by prominent Mozambican members, including Aníbal Manave, president of the organization, and Clarisse Machanguana, who was appointed to the FIBA-World Youth National Teams Commission the previous year.
Aníbal Aurélio Manave, president of FIBA-Africa, along with Alphonse Bile, the organization's executive director, led the event held at the heart of continental basketball decision-making. The meeting, attended by the president of the FIBA Foundation, Hamane Niang, and members of the FIBA Central Council, Pascale Mugwaneza and Jean Michel Ramaroson, resulted in important decisions for the future of African basketball.
One of the main decisions was to award the organization of the 2025 Afrobasket to Ivory Coast, with the competition to be held in July in Abidjan. This will be the second time the country has hosted the tournament, having previously hosted it in 2013. Furthermore, it was determined that Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and Rwanda, the 2023 semi-finalists, are automatically qualified for the tournament.
Angola has also received approval to host the 2025 men's "Afrobasket," an event that will feature 16 national teams, as has been the case since 2007.
Furthermore, the competitions for youth levels were discussed, with particular emphasis on this year's African Under-18 Championship for men and women, which will take place in South Africa between August 9 and 18. The qualifying phase for the Under-18 Afrobasket for men and women is scheduled to run from April to June.
During the meeting, reports on the recent qualifiers for the 2025 “AfroBasket” and on the inaugural edition of the FIBA Africa Women's Basketball League (AWBL) were also analyzed. Following analysis, FIBA-Africa decided to rename the AWBL the Women's Basketball Champions League (WBCLA), with the inaugural edition scheduled for December of this year in Morocco.
In administrative terms, the FIBA-Africa Central Council proposed increasing the Executive Committee from 7 to 9 or 11 members, subject to final approval. These decisions and agendas established by FIBA-Africa represent a significant step towards the continued development and growth of basketball on the African continent.
