BK Arena (formerly known as Kigali Arena until 2022) is an multi-purpose

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

, used mostly for basketball and volleyball matches. Built and finished in 2019, it hosts sporting events and concerts. It is the biggest indoor arena in East Africa and is located next to the

Amahoro Stadium The Amahoro Stadium ( rw, Stade Amahoro; french: Stade Amahoro; Kinyarwanda for "Peace Stadium"), officially known as Amahoro National Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Gasabo district of Kigali, Rwanda. With a capacity of 25,000, it ...

. The arena is regularly used for games of the

Rwanda Basketball League The Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) (formerly the National Basketball League Rwanda) is the top professional basketball league in Rwanda. Its season usually runs from November to September. The winners of the NBL season qualify for the qualifiers ...

(RBL). It was constructed by SUMMA, a Turkish international contractor. In 2021 Kigali Arena signed a contract with

n singer

Bruce Melodie Itahiwacu Bruce (born 2 March 1992), commonly known as Bruce Melodie is a Rwandan singer and songwriter and a winner of Primus Guma Guma Super Star seasons 8 (PGGSS). He is the Founder of Igitangaza Music record Label. Bruce is also a brand ...

a deal of 150 million RWF, as its brand ambassador for the next three years with a shared objective to position the venue as a regional entertainment hub. On May 24, 2022, the arena's name was changed to the BK Arena after a six-year sponsorship deal worth 7 billion RF with the

Bank of Kigali Bank of Kigali (BK) is a commercial bank in Rwanda. It is licensed by the National Bank of Rwanda. Location The headquarters and main branch of the bank are located at 6112 KN4 Avenue, in Nyarugenge District, in the city of Kigali, the capital a ...

Construction

Construction of the Kigali Arena, a joint project of the Rwandan government through the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) and Turkish firm Summa, began in January 2019. The construction of the indoor arena was supervised by the RHA. Construction progressed at a fast rate, with around 1,000 to 2,000 people employed to work on the project both in day and night shifts. By mid-June 2019, the indoor arena was at least 70 percent complete and was set to be completed in July 2019. On 9 August 2019, the arena was inaugurated with a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

game between

Patriots BBC Patriots Basketball Club, also known as simply Patriots, is a basketball club based in Kigali, Rwanda. Established in 2014, it plays its home games at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. The team is a four-time champion of the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL). ...

and

REG BBC Rwanda Energy Group BBC, commonly known as REG, is a Rwandan basketball club based in Kigali. It is owned and named after the company Rwanda Energy Group Limited. It plays in the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL), the highest tier of basketball in R ...

, with Rwandan President

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

in attendance. In 2021, Kigali Arena played host to the inaugural edition of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...

(BAL) and the

2021 Afrobasket FIBA AfroBasket 2021 was the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. It was originally scheduled to take place between 17 and 29 August 2 ...

championship. In 2022, the second season of the BAL held its playoffs in the arena.

Features

Kigali Arena is a 10,000 capacity indoor arena which is meant for indoor sports such as basketball, handball, volleyball, and tennis, as well as concerts and conferences. The sports venue is situated nearby the 30,000 capacity

and the 2,500 capacity Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

Events

The Kigali Arena has hosted various key sports events that the

2019 FIBA Under-16 Women's African Championship The 2019 FIBA Africa U16 Championship for Women was the 6th FIBA Africa Under-16 Championship for Women, FIBA Africa U16 Championship for Women, played under the rules of FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, and the FIBA Africa thereof. ...

, the

AfroBasket 2021 FIBA AfroBasket 2021 was the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. It was originally scheduled to take place between 17 and 29 August 2 ...

, and is currently hosting the 2021 African Nations Volleyball Championships. It has hosted the finals of the 2019 Rwandan National Basketball League, selling out multiple games. The arena was supposed to host (only) the Final Four of the inaugural season of the

(BAL), but eventually hosted the entire regular season of 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

References

External links

* {{Indoor arenas in Africa Buildings and structures in Kigali Indoor arenas in Rwanda Sport in Kigali Sports venues completed in 2019 Sports venues in Kigali