BK Arena (formerly known as Kigali Arena) is a multi-purpose
indoor arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
in
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 is a relativ ...
,
Rwanda
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
, 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 arena is regularly used for games in the
Rwanda Basketball League (RBL). It was constructed by SUMMA, a Turkish international contractor.
In 2021 Kigali Arena signed a contract with Rwandan singer
Bruce Melodie for him to be its brand ambassador for the next three years with a shared objective to position the venue as a regional entertainment hub.
On 24 May 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.
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 completed in July 2019.
Events
The Kigali Arena has hosted various sports events that the
2019 FIBA Under-16 Women's African Championship, the
AfroBasket 2021, and the
2021 African Nations Volleyball Championships. It will host the
2023 Women's Afrobasket.
It has hosted the finals of the 2019 Rwandan
National Basketball League, selling out multiple games. The arena was supposed to host the Final Four of the
inaugural season of the
Basketball Africa League (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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The BK Arena also hosted the playoffs in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
and
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
, following an agreement between the BAL and the Ministry of Sport.
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 (appro ...
game between
Patriots BBC and
REG BBC, with Rwandan President
Paul Kagame in attendance.
In 2021, Kigali Arena played host to the inaugural edition of the
Basketball Africa League (BAL) and the
2021 Afrobasket championship. In 2022, the second season of the BAL held its playoffs in the arena.
On 16 March 2023, the arena hosted the 73rd
FIFA Congress
The FIFA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the International Association Football Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by the acronym FIFA . FIFA is the international governing body of ...
.
Features
Kigali Arena is a 10,000 capacity indoor arena for indoor sports such as basketball, handball, volleyball, and tennis, as well as concerts and conferences.
[ The sports venue is situated nearby the 45,000 capacity Amahoro Stadium and the 2,500 capacity Amahoro Indoor Stadium.]
See also
* List of basketball arenas
* List of indoor arenas by capacity
References
External links
*
{{Indoor arenas in Africa
Indoor arenas in Rwanda
Sports venues completed in 2019
Sports venues in Kigali
2019 establishments in Rwanda