Rwanda Erects 10,000-Seat Basketball Arena for 2021 Africa Basketball Championships
Rwanda has been in the news for very impressive reasons for quite a while now, with remarkable projects and innovation.
The country has just opened the much-anticipated Kigali Arena, one of Africa’s largest indoor stadia that will host major regional and international sports events, including the continent’s biggest basketball meet – the 2021 FIBA Africa Basketball Championships.
The 10,000-seat facility, located next to Amahoro National Stadium, Remera, is not only multi-purpose for indoor games but also designed for meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and concerts.
The project began in January and it was a joint venture between the Rwandan government and Turkish Investment Company, Summa.
The new basketball arena, which was constructed as part of efforts to expand the country’s sports infrastructure, is also expected to host the 2020 NBA Africa league, as well as, the 2019 FIBA Africa Under-16 Championship for girls in August this year, reports KT Press.
“Kigali Arena presents a big opportunity to attract international basketball tournaments, and that would position Rwanda as the leading sports tourism destination in the region.
Kigali Arena will host major regional and international sports events. Pic credit: Rwanda Housing Authority
“Our players will have a chance to access a high-standard facility, and that will – in many ways – improve their knowledge and skills in the sport,” said Pascale Mugwaneza, the Vice-President of Rwanda Basketball Federation.
Kigali Arena joins a host of other state-of-the-art indoor arenas distributed throughout the continent, including the Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex in Egypt, which has the largest indoor arena in the entire African continent with a 20,000 seating capacity, and South Africa’s Ticketpro Dome, which hosts numerous national and international events like the NBA Africa Game, musical concerts, conferences, among others.
