Nairobi City Thunder ready to challenge for Africa title

Kenyan champions Nairobi City Thunder have come of age, and have what it takes to qualify for the play-off stage of 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL), and to win the title given their experience, the team’s officials have declared. 

On Sunday, Nairobi City Thunder who won the Kenya Basketball Federation men’s Premier League title unbeaten in the ended season, won the East Division Elite 16 title unbeaten at Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi to qualify for Nile Conference stage of BAL.

On Friday, Nairobi City Thunder’s president, Colin Rasmussen, said his team success in East Division Elite 16 tournament which ended last is the first of big things to come this season, as the team prepares to take on more established opponents in Nile Conference championship.

“When you listen to every player in the team, when you hear their team captain Tylor Ongwae talk, their focus is the same, and the coaching staff is speaking the same language. They want to win BAL, not just participate,” Rasmussen, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Twende Sports, said on Friday at a media event in Nairobi. 

Read: Nairobi City Thunder book ticket to Basketball Africa League

Twende Sports acquired the team in 2023, and the club won the league title in 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons unbeaten. Rasmussen founded Twende Sports.

A total of 12 teams will compete in the Conference phase of the competition between March and May next year. The conferences are Nile Conference, Sahara Conference and Kalahari. Organisers of the tournament are yet to conduct the draw for the conferences, from where the top two teams will be joined by the next two best-placed teams in the final play-offs. 

On Sunday, Nairobi City Thunder beat Johannesburg Giant 94-84 to win the East Division Elite 16, having outclassed Ferroviario Da Beira from Mozambique 109-70 in the semis.

The Kenyan champions failed to reach the play-off stage last season, having finished fourth in Nile Conference behind Al Ahli Tripoli from Libya, APR of Rwanda and South Africa’s MBB in April this year in Kigali, Rwanda.

Compete at the highest level

In 2023, Twende Sport was attracted by the quality of talent in the squad. At the time, the team had talented players, but lacked sponsorship.

“We knew something good would happen if we created resources, time and effort besides drawing together top Kenyan players based outside the country,” Rasmussen observed.

And it has borne fruit. Players like Tylor Ongwae, Albert Odero and Kennedy Wachira are back to play in the country. Ongwae has played for clubs in USA, Italy, Sweden, New Zealand, Switzerland, Russia, Germany and in Denmark, while Odero and Wachira were based in USA.

Also present at the function were the team’s deputy team coach Rose Mshila, team manager Bernet Ojay, and Chief of Staff Marcel Awori.

“We want to get to a place where we can compete at the highest level in the continent, and put Nairobi City Thunder on the map as a basketball powerhouse not only in Kenya but the continent,” Rasmussen observed, adding that the team’s dominance has had a trickle-down effect in the league as other teams are working hard to stay in touch. 

Read: Nairobi City Thunder strike down Jo’burg Giants, stay in hunt for African title

Rasmussen took pride in the fact that the whole of his team’s roster of players played a part in East Division Elite 16 , something their opponents did not do.

“We are able to do that because of the depth of our technical bench,” said Rasmussen.

Mshila said the team will keep the entire squad, among them Ongwae, Albert Odera, Eugene Adera, ahead of the Nile Conference matches planned for next year.

“We are setting our systems around them as we assess our performances right from last year’s tournament, from which we drew valuable lessons. We want to improve every unit of play - from defence to attack,” said Mshila. She said that the players’ strength and conditioning programme will be key to their campaign.