Landry Jabo, the Executive Director at the Rwanda Basketball Federation (Ferwaba), has spoken out on their preparedness to host the FIBA World Cup qualifiers second window that will take place from July 1-3.

Eight African countries comprising Group A and B will be hosted in Kigali  in a FIBA World Cup 2023 qualifying tournament.

In an interview with Times Sport, Jabo talked about what the country’s experience has been in hosting international sports events, what stands out in their preparations, and so on.

Read the excerpts below.

Rwanda is continuing to position itself as a host for international sports competitions. What have you learned from hosting previous competitions?

I would say that it has been a good experience, because we are working with highly experienced people, so we do things that are really on point.

And for the entire ecosystem, I would say it is something good to work hand in hand with such people. MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) being an emerging industry here, working with such people is a great experience. We learn from them and we try to apply what we have learned even in our local events. So even for the local events, the standard has improved as well.

Have you received any notable  feedback from foreign participants  in the sports events hosted here?

It is not bragging, but the feedback has been positive so far, and we want to keep the momentum. We don’t want to go back or make mistakes, we want to keep improving the standards and the guest experience.

Rwanda will host the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in July. Tell us about the preparations.

As I have said, the experience we have gained has won us greater trust and confidence from our partners and stakeholders. That is why, initially we were supposed to host only Group B, but due to that experience and the feedback we have received, we will host Group A as well.

Group A is composed of Cape Verde, Mali, Uganda and Nigeria. We are still not sure about Nigeria’s participation due to internal issues in their federation. Group B has Cameroon, Tunisia, Rwanda and South Sudan. So, we will have eight countries here from July 1-3.

CHOGM is taking place in Rwanda and recently there was the BAL. 

A lot of international events are being hosted within this short time. Is that an advantage to your preparations for the World Cup qualifiers?

It is always a pleasure to host such events. Rwanda is now known as a good host of international events, whether it is conferences or sports events. 

I would say that CHOGM, the BAL, and the FIBA qualifiers all complement each other. So, it is always an advantage to host such events.

What are some of the things that stand out for the people who come here for sports events?

The first impressive thing that I have heard from the participants was the cleanliness of the city, and the second thing is the experience from the airport to the hotel and to the Kigali Arena; the way they are received.

Also, the security, because some participants want to visit the city whenever they want without escorts or bodyguards.

Tell us about the ticketing, attendance and seating arrangements?

 For the ticket prices, we have different categories from Rwf5000 for the upper bowl and Rwf30,000 for the courtside.

The tickets will be available from June 17 until July 3. The price is low for the early birds, so that we are ready by July 1. Tickets can be found on the centrika website.