The Democratic Republic of the Congo has asked the NBA, along with Formula 1 and numerous major European soccer clubs, including Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, to stop doing business with Rwanda as the conflict between the two countries deepens.
Rwanda is closely associated with the NBA’s Basketball Africa League. In 2021, Rwanda hosted the entire inaugural season and the first four BAL Finals.
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DRC Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner wrote a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday, according to ESPN, which asked him to consider the league’s “commitment to social justice and respect for human rights.” Furthermore, Kayikwamba Wagner asked Silver to end the NBA’s business relationship with Rwanda “if not for your own conscience, then at least in solidarity with the innocent victims of Rwandan aggression.”
The United Nations voiced alarm two weeks ago at rampant violence in the eastern Congo, as the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels pushed deeper into the country. It was a dramatic escalation in a region that has seen decades of conflict involving multiple armed groups.
The NBA has previously indicated that the United States government has given it permission to do business in Rwanda. In a statement to ESPN regarding Kayikwamba Wagner’s letter, a league spokesman wrote, “We will continue to follow U.S. government guidance everywhere we operate.”
This is not the first time that Silver and the NBA have been questioned regarding their relationship with Rwanda and its president, Paul Kagame, whose regime has been accused of numerous human rights violations. In August 2024, two U.S. Senators, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), wrote a letter accusing the league of “putting profit over principle.”
A month later, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum responded, “If American policies were to change regarding business activities in and relating to Rwanda or any other BAL market, our actions would, of course, change accordingly.”
The NBA, along with FIBA, founded the BAL in 2019, which marked the first time that the NBA had been involved with the operation of a league outside of North America.
“The Basketball Africa League is an important next step in our continued development of the game of basketball in Africa,” Silver said at the time. “Combined with our other programs on the continent, we are committed to using basketball as an economic engine to create new opportunities in sports, media and technology across Africa.”
The BAL was supposed to begin play in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inaugural season was postponed until 2021. Furthermore, instead of having multiple host cities across the continent, the entire 2021 season was played inside a bubble in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, which has hosted every BAL Finals to date.
In 2023, the BAL and Rwanda Development Board announced a long-term partnership that will see Kigali host the BAL Finals again in 2026 and 2028.
“The Rwanda Development Board, as a Foundational Partner, has been integral to the launch and continued growth and success of the Basketball Africa League over our first three seasons,” BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall said. “Coming out of our most competitive and compelling season yet, we’re excited to renew our collaboration with RDB that will bring BAL games as well as youth development and social impact programs to Rwanda for years to come.”
The 2025 BAL Finals, however, will be played in Pretoria, South Africa. The 2025 BAL season is set to tip off on April 5 in Rabat, Morocco.
