Rwanda Basketball League

The Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) (formerly the National Basketball League Rwanda) is the top professional basketball league in Rwanda.^[1] Its season usually runs from November to September. The winners of the NBL season qualify for the qualifiers for the Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Rwanda Basketball League

Organising body	FERWABA
Founded	1977
First season	1977
Country	Rwanda
Number of teams	10
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Rwanda Basketball League Division 2
Domestic cup(s)	Rwanda Cup
Supercup	Rwanda Super Cup
International cup(s)	Basketball Africa League (BAL)
Current champions	APR (16th title) (2025)
Most championships	APR (16 titles)
2025 RBL season

The league currently consists of 10 teams, most of them being from the country's capital Kigali. The current champion of the RBL are APR, who are the league’s most decorated team with a record 16 championships. Other notable teams are REG and their rivals Patriots, who have been powerhouses in recent years.

Since the 2021–22 season, the FERWABA also organises the RBL Division 2 to which the bottom two teams of the RBL relegate.^[2]

History

Basketball was introduced in Rwanda in 1930 by Catholic priests, who first taught the sport at high schools in the Southern Province. The following decades, the presence of the sport increased as the military and some public institutions created basketball teams. In 1974, the national basketball federation FERWABA was established. Three years later, in 1977, the first national league was created.^[3]

The 1994 Rwandan genocide threw the sport back, because Tutsi players, spectators and administrators died and crucial infrastructure was destroyed.^[3]

In the 2000s, APR was the dominant team in Rwanda and it participated in the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup thrice. Its best result was a bronze medal in 2009.

From 2011 to 2015, Espoir BBC won four straight national titles. From then, two newly established teams REG (owned by the Rwanda Energy Group) and Patriots entered the league. The two teams became rivals and played each other in the finals for several years.

In the 2020s, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) was introduced – the first editions were hosted by the BK Arena in Kigali. Patriots finished in fourth place in the inaugural 2021 season. The league changed its name to the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) in 2023. FERWABA introduced two new competitions, the Rwanda Cup and the Rwanda Super Cup, for the 2024 season.^[4]

Venues

The BK Arena hosts important games, as well as the finals series

The league games in the regular season are usually stated in the Lycée de Kigali's indoor hall, which can seat 1,500 spectators, after it was revamped by FERWABA and NBA Africa in 2023.^[5] Other games are played at Kepler University's indoor hall. Playoffs games are usually held at the 10,000-seater BK Arena (formerly the Kigali Arena), which was opened in 2019.^[6] Another hall that is used is the Petit Arena, which was recently renovated to hold 1,500 people.

Current teams

2025 teams

The following teams will play in the 2025 BAL season:

Team	City	Founded	Joined
APR	Kigali	1993
Azomco Global Flame	Bugesera	2022	2025
Espoir	Kigali	2003
Flame
Patriots		2014
Kepler		2022	2024
REG		2016
Orion BBC		2022	2023
Tigers		2019
UGB		1998

Sources:^[7]

Former teams

Team	City	Founded	Last season
30 Plus	Kigali (Kimisagara)	2006	2021
Inspired Generation	Kigali	2022	2024
IPRC-Huye	Huye
IPRC-Kigali	Kigali
IPRC-Musanze	Ruhengeri, Musanze
Kigali Titans	Kigali	2021	2024
Rusizi	Rusizi
Shoot for the Stars	Kigali
University of Rwanda	Huye
University of Rwanda – CHMS	Kigali

^{[nb 1]}

Champions

The following is a list of all documented Rwandan top-flight league champions:^[9]

• 1995: APR
• 1996: APR
• 1997: APR
• 1998: APR
• 1999: APR
• 2000: APR
• 2001: APR
• 2002: APR
• 2003: APR
• 2004: Espoir
• 2005: APR
• 2006: APR
• 2007: Marines
• 2008: APR
• 2009: APR
• 2010: Kigali Basketball Club
• 2011: Kigali Basketball Club
• 2012: Espoir
• 2013: Espoir
• 2014: Espoir
• 2015: Espoir
• 2016: Patriots
• 2017: REG
• 2018: Patriots
• 2019: Patriots
• 2020: Patriots
• 2021: REG
• 2022: REG
• 2023: APR
• 2024: APR
• 2025: APR

Finals (2007–present)

The following is a list of the league's final playoff series, or if not applicable the season's final standings.

Season	Champions	Runners-up	Finals score	Ref.
2007	Marines	CSK
2007–08	APR	Marines
2008–09	APR
2009–10	Kigali Basketball Club	APR	—	[10]
2010–11	Kigali Basketball Club
2011–12	Espoir (1)	KBC	3–1	[11]
2012–13	Espoir (2)	APR	3–0
2013–14	Espoir (3)	APR	—
2014–15	Espoir (4)	Patriots	3–1	[12]
2015–16	Patriots (1)	Espoir	—
2016–17	Patriots (2)	REG	3–1	[13]
2017–18	Patriots (2)	REG	3–2	[14]
2018–19	Patriots (3)	REG	4–3	[15]
2019–20	Patriots (4)	REG	76–61	[16]
2020–21	REG (1)	Patriots	2–0	[17]
2021–22	REG (2)	Patriots	3–2	[18]
2023	APR (14)	REG	4–0	[19]
2024	APR (15)	Patriots	4–2	[20]
2025	APR (16)	REG	4–2	[21]

Performance by club

Club	Wins	Runners-up	Seasons won	Seasons runners-up
APR	16	2	1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2023, 2024, 2025	2013, 2014
Espoir	5	1	2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015	2016
Patriots	4	4	2016, 2018, 2019, 2020	2017, 2021, 2022, 2024
REG	3	5	2017, 2021, 2022	2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025
Kigali Basketball Club	2	1	2010, 2011	2012
Marines	1	1	2007	2008

Individual awards

Most Valuable Player

After each RBL season, one player is named the Most valuable player of the competition. Olivier Shyaka is the only player to have won at least two MVP awards. Since the 2023 season, the RBL has an award for the best player in the regular season, as well as a separate one for the best player in the playoffs.

Most Valuable Player winners

Season	Player	Club	Ref.
Season MVP
2012	Aristide Mugabe	Espoir	[22]
2013	Bienvenu Ngandu	Espoir (2)	[11]
2014	Mike Buzangu	Cercle Sportif de Kigali	[22]
2015	Olivier Shyaka	Espoir (3)	[12]
2016	Kubwimana Kazingufu Ali	Patriots	[23]
2017	Kami Kabange	REG	[13]
2018	Sedar Sagamba	Patriots (2)
2019	Dieudonné Ndizeye	Patriots (3)	[24]
2021	Olivier Shyaka (2)	REG (2)	[17]
2022	Axel Mpoyo	REG (3)	[25]
Regular Season MVP
2023	Olivier Turatsinze	Espoir (4)	[26]
2024	Chad Jordan	Kepler	[27]

Playoffs MVP

Since 2023, the league also gives an award to the best performing player of the playoffs.

Playoffs MVP winners

Season	Player	Club	Ref.
2023	Jean Jacques Nshobozwabyosenumukiza	APR	[28]
2024	Isaiah Miller		[20]
2025	Youssou Ndoye		[21]

Defensive Player of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year winners

Season	Player	Club	Ref.
2023	Frank Kamdoh	UGB	[29]
2024	Pitchou Kambuy Manga	REG	[27]

Most Improved Player

Most Improved Player winners

Season	Player	Club	Ref.
2024	Fabrice "Musinza" Muhoza	Espoir	[27]

Team of the Year

Players in bold were named the season's Most Valuable Player.

RBL Team of the Year selections (2014–present)

Season	Players					Coach of the Year
	PG	SG	SF	PF	C
2014–15[12]	Aristide Mugabe (Espoir)	Mike Buzangu (KBC)	Lionnel Hakizimana (Espoir)	Olivier Shyaka (Espoir)	Bienvenue Ngandu (Espoir)
2016–17	Aristide Mugabe (Patriots)	Benjamin Mukengerwa (REG)	Dieudonné Ndizeye (iPRC-Kigali)	Olivier Shyaka (Espoir)	Kami Kabange (REG)
2019–20[24]	Guibert Nijimbere (REG)	Wilson Nshobozwa (REG)	Dieudonné Ndizeye (Patriots)	Bienvenu Niyonsaba (APR)	Junior Kasongo (Patriots)	Henry Mwinuka (REG)
2020–21[17]	Adonis Filer (REG)	Engelbert Beleck Bell (Patriots)	Dieudonné Ndizeye (Patriots)	Olivier Shyaka (REG)	Tom Wamukota (Patriots)	Henry Mwinuka (REG)
2021–22[25]	Adonis Filer (REG)	Kenny Gasana (Patriots)	Steven Hagumintwari (Patriots)	Axel Mpoyo (REG)	Pitchou Kambuy Manga (REG)	Henry Mwinuka (REG)
2023	Not announced					Maz Trakh (APR)[29]
2024						Henry Mwinuka (Patriots)[27]
2025[21]						James Mayes (APR)

In African competitions

Each year, the champions of the NBL were placed for the qualifiers of the FIBA Africa Basketball League, the premiere pan-African competition. Since 2020, this league is replaced by the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The following list shows Rwandan teams which played in a main tournament:

Rwandan participants in the FIBA Africa Basketball League / BAL

Club	Participations	Seasons	Best result
APR	4	2007, 2008, 2009, 2024	3rd place (2009)
REG	2	2022, 2023	Quarterfinals (2022)
Patriots	1	2021	Fourth place (2021)

In the Basketball Africa League

Since the 2023 season, the champions of the RBL qualify directly to the BAL, as the competition has determined them as designated market.

Season	Representative	Road to BAL					Main competition
		W	L	Result	Qualified		W	L	Result
2021	Patriots	9	0	Gold			3	3	Fourth place
2022	REG	Qualified directly					4	2	Quarter-finals
2023	REG	Qualified directly					3	3	Quarter-finals
2024	APR	Qualified directly					2	4	Conference stage
2025	APR	Qualified directly					6	4	Bronze
Total		9	0				18	16

See also

• Rwanda Basketball League Division 2
• Rwanda Basketball Cup
• Heroes' Cup (Rwanda)
• FERWABA

Notes

1. From.^[8] Four teams play home games outside Kigali – RP-IPRC Huye BBC and UR BBC-MEN (Butare), RP IPRC MUSANZE (Ruhengeri), and RUSIZI Basketball Club (Cyangugu). The remaining ten teams all play games at Kigali venues Club Rafiki, Kigali Arena, NPC, Petit stade Remera, and RP-IPRC Kigali.