BAL Takes Women’s Basketball Development Drive To Lagos
Ogwumike, Fall Lead Push For African Basketball Growth At CANEX
Chiney Ogwumike leads girls’ basketball masterclass as league president Amadou Gallo Fall calls for stronger pathways for African talent.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has used the 2026 Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX WKND) in Lagos to promote basketball development, women’s empowerment and sustainable opportunities for African sporting talent.
The event, held from November 5 to 8, featured a series of activities organised by the BAL in collaboration with Afreximbank, with support from partners Visit Rwanda and Rwanda Air.
BAL Ambassador and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike led a masterclass titled Crowning Our Future Champions, drawing on the work of her Queens of the Continent foundation to highlight how basketball can empower young women and girls through access to facilities, community support and confidence-building.
‘If talent has no gender, opportunity shouldn’t either. When girls have a court to play on, a community behind them and the confidence to believe in themselves, they can go as far as their talent takes them,’ Ogwumike said.
On November 6, the BAL and Queens of the Continent also staged the BAL4HER Showcase, a one-day 3×3 tournament featuring the top 20 participants from the BAL4HER Elevate Camp held in Lagos earlier this year.
The showcase gave the players an opportunity to display their skills and connect with stakeholders from the sports and creative industries.
Also on November 6, BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall joined a high-level panel discussion on Creating Sustainable Pathways to Success for Global African Sporting Talent, where stakeholders examined the investment, partnerships and structures required to move athletes from grassroots development to professional opportunities.
‘Talent has never been Africa’s problem. The challenge is building the infrastructure, competition and structures around that talent, so that leaving the continent is a choice rather than the only route to the highest levels,’ Fall said.
He stressed that investment in facilities must be matched by coaching, programming and competitive opportunities to create sustainable development pathways.
The BAL said it would continue investing in initiatives to strengthen basketball infrastructure and participation across Africa.
As part of that commitment, the league will unveil its second BAL4HER community court in Owerri, Imo State, next month, in collaboration with Qatar Foundation and Queens of the Continent.
The project will combine access to basketball facilities with community programmes and local partnerships aimed at creating more opportunities for women and girls to participate in and develop through the sport.
