There is a new scramble for Africa and it’s splitting the continent in two as national federations are forced to choose between sending their respective teams to Nairobi or Kinshasa.
The newly formed World Boxing (WB) is set to stage the inaugural World Boxing Elite Africa Men and Women’s Championships at the Moi International Sports Centre, Indoor Arena, in Nairobi from tomorrow to October 28.
Meanwhile, the 79-year-old International Boxing Association (IBA) will organise the 23rd African Boxing Confederation Championships at Stade des Martyrs Gym, in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo from October 18 to November 1.
IBA has set aside thousands of dollars in prize money for the Kinshasa tournament, which could attract over 20 nations, while the Nairobi competition offers no prize money.
Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) has opted to have one strong team participate in the Nairobi championship.
Many countries had hoped that WB and IBA could stage the two continental championships in separate months for them to compete in both.
Since the introduction of prize money in 2022 by IBA, the African purse has grown from $500,000 (Sh65 million) to $800,000 (Sh103 million).
The hefty prize money for the last three editions of IBA continental championships has been made possible by Russian billionaire Umar Kremlev, who was elected the association president on December 12, 2020.
Gold medallist in 2022 Maputo pocketed $10,000 (Sh1.3m), $15,000 (Sh2.4m) in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
However, with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games looming, most countries will prefer the Nairobi event that will be part of the pathway to the biennial games.
Boxers will get world ranking points that can be used in qualification for the Olympics if the pathway through the continental or world championships fails.
Kenya’s Silas Onyango (in red) fights against Ethiopia’s Abel Abatiye Alemu during the Africa Zone 3 Boxing championship on October 20, 2025, at Kasarani gymnasium.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
BFK, with the backing from the Ministry of Sports, put in a successful bid to host the inaugural World Boxing Elite Africa Men and Women’s Championships in January.
However, sources within the African Boxing Confederation reveal that having the championships run concurrently with the Nairobi event was a deliberate decision in order to deny boxers a chance to go for the Kinshasa championships.
AFBC leadership has, meanwhile, been engulfed by leadership wrangles. Berhanu Eyassu Wossen from Ethiopia, who was elected the confederation’s president in 2023, was kicked out by IBA in June 2025 over governance issues, with his deputy Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo from DRC taking over.
On the other hand, WB started to entrench itself on the continent, taking advantage of its recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
WB moved fast to install Solomon Desmond Kargbo as the African Boxing president in December last year. Kargbo is also the president of the Sierra Leone Boxing Association (SLBA).
Interestingly, the two continental federations have allowed boxers to cross over in their respective events without facing any sanctions.
Africa thus finds itself in the middle of the WB and IBA supremacy battles. How did this come about?
Founded as the Fédération Internationale de Boxe Amateur (FIBA) in 1920, the global body transitioned to Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur Boxing (AIBA) in 1946 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
It was rebranded to IBA in 2021 just after Russian billionaire Umar Kremlev was elected as it president on December 12, 2020.
Kremlev made major changes, introducing, for the first time, prize money in continental competitions.
In Africa, it started with the 2022 African Boxing Confederation Championships in Maputo, Mozambique.
Kremlev, who has been head of the Russian Boxing Federation since 2017 and then chairman of Aiba’s market commission, was elected Aiba president, replacing Ezbek’s Gafur Rahimov, who resigned on March 29, 2019.
Kremlev took over at a time the IOC had suspended Aiba on June 26, 2019 following an inquiry on governance, financial stability, refereeing, and judging integrity, especially at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Kremlev helped clear IBA debts that ran into millions of dollars besides attracting sponsors and restoring the operations of the office.
Still, the IOC, which appointed a task force to oversee boxing qualifiers for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games that were held in 2021, took charge of the qualifiers for Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
This is because the IOC felt IBA had failed to implement reforms on governance and finance for the ban to be lifted.
IBA read political mischief from IOC hierarchy with Kremlev having links with Russian President Vladimir Putin among other top political figures in Russia. Kremlev moved IBA operations to Moscow as he relied heavily on funding from the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
An extraordinary IOC Session officially voted to withdraw recognition of IBA on June 22, 2023. Kremlev challenged the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled in favour of the Olympic body.
IOC struck boxing from its 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games programme and urged national federations to create a new global boxing body to replace the IBA.
World Boxing thus came into being in 2023 with Boris van der Vorst, who Kremlev had defeated to become IBA president, taking charge.
Countries that have confirmed participation in the WB event in Nairobi are hosts Kenya, Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Libya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Gambia, Benin, Botswana, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Sudan, Togo, Nigeria.
