There are a number of indoor ice rinks in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n countries that are used for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

. Enthusiasts have formed national teams in several countries and an inaugural African Nations Cup of Ice Hockey was planned for 2009. The first African Nations Cup of Ice Hockey was planned for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

between 19–26 September 2009. The matches of the championship were to be played at the ice rink of "Festival Shopping Centre" in Kempton Park. The competing countries were to be

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. However, the tournament was postponed due to lack of response from the invited countries and never played. In 2014, the Egyptian players of Anubis Ice Hockey Team, Egypt's first ice hockey team started to initiate with the

Royal Moroccan Ice Hockey Federation The Royal Moroccan Ice Hockey Federation (french: Fédération Royale Marocaine de Hockey sur Glace (FRMHG)) is the governing body of ice hockey in Morocco. See also *Morocco national ice hockey team External linksInternational Ice Hockey Federa ...

the first African Cup. In 2016 the first African Ice Hockey Clubs Cup was held in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populatio ...

between 24 and 31 July. The championship was contested between 6 teams from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and Algeria. Teams of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

and South Africa were also invited but they didn't participate. The cup was won by the Tunisian team.

Southern Africa

South Africa

In South Africa, the sport is governed by the South African Ice Hockey Association. The

South Africa national ice hockey team The South Africa national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of South Africa. It is controlled by the South African Ice Hockey Federation and has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since 25 Februar ...

has been a member of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF) since 1937 and are arguably the leading Ice Hockey nation on the continent with various of its players also playing college ice hockey in the USA. South Africa made its international debut in a 12-3 loss to Yugoslavia in Group C of the 1961 World Ice Hockey Championships. South African Super League teams include the Johannesburg Wildcats, Pretoria Capitals and the Cape Town Kings.

North Africa

Morocco

The North western African country of Morocco has a number of ice hockey clubs like the Capitals, Ifis and Falcons who use a rink in a shopping mall in

. Ice hockey is governed in Morocco by the Royal Moroccan Ice Hockey Federation which is so far an associate member of the IIHF since 2010. The

Morocco national ice hockey team The Moroccan national ice hockey team ( ar, منتخب المغرب لهوكي الجليد; french: Équipe du Maroc de hockey sur glace) is the men's national ice hockey team of Morocco. The team is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Ice Hockey F ...

represented their country in the 2008 Arab Cup of Ice Hockey, in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

Algeria

Algeria became Associate members of the IIHF on September 26, 2019. There is currently one ice rink in Algeria. Ice hockey in Algeria is governed by

Hockey Algeria Hockey Algeria is the public name of the authority which governs both ice hockey, inline hockey and ball hockey in Algeria. Hockey Algeria was founded in 2008 by Karim Kerbouche, Harond Litim and Nassim Boulakdem and was later accepted into the ...

. Algeria currently has one hockey club, HC Alger Corsaires and a hockey school in Setif.

Tunisia

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

's first ice rink is at the Blue Ice complex in the Yasmine Hammamet resort. Tunisia national ice hockey team is being formed by the ice hockey player Ihab Ayed from France, and it is governed by the Tunisian Ice Hockey Association The Tunisian team 'Carthage Eagles' is the first champion of Africa.

Egypt

Egypt, has 11 ice rinks in 6 cities in six different governorates.

East Africa

Kenya

In 2005, the

Solar Ice Rink The Solar Ice Rink is an ice rink located in Nairobi, Kenya. The rink is located in the Panari Sky Centre, a large retail, leisure and hotel accommodation complex. Opened in 2005, the Solar Ice Rink is the largest rink in Africa, and the first ...

was opened in the Panari Hotel in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...

, Kenya. Several Kenyan schools have shown interest in setting up ice hockey teams. Ice hockey players from

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

are known to participate in some ice hockey matches in other African countries.

Future of African ice hockey

So far there is no unifying African federation for ice hockey to govern the sport in the large continent. However, 12 African countries have different levels of ice hockey activities, South Africa is a full member of the IIHF with a national federation, ice hockey rinks, clubs and national teams. Morocco is an associate member of the IIHF with a national federation, a few clubs and a national team.

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

has a national federation with an affiliate membership in the IIHF, but it doesn't have a national ice hockey team. Tunisia has a national team and a national association but still with no IIHF membership. While in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre ...

, there are several clubs and teams with no official statuses.

References

{{reflist Sport in Africa