East-West Africa Cup Qualifiers 2023/24

The **East-West Africa Cup Qualifiers** function as a continental cricket pathway distinct from the standard International Cricket Council routes. Organised by the Africa Cricket Association, the tournament serves to determine participants for the **ACA Africa T20 Cup**. In the 2023 cycle, the event consolidated regional qualifiers into a single configuration, held at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, South Africa, during December. Six nations competed: Kenya, Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Cameroon. The structure relied on two groups of four teams. Group A contained Ghana, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Cameroon, while Group B comprised Kenya, Mali and Gambia. Knockout matches followed the group stage. Rwanda secured victory in Group A, and Kenya emerged as the top team in Group B. Kenya subsequently defeated Mali in a decisive match, while Rwanda beat Ghana. The outcome established the primary qualifiers for the continental championship. This format represented a departure from the usual ICC Sub-Regional Qualifiers, which are split into separate zones leading directly to the World Cup Regional Final. Instead, the Africa Cricket Association managed this specific iteration to streamline qualification. The event appears to have been a unique restructuring for the 2023 cycle, with no earlier editions recorded under this specific branding. Kenya is often cited as the leading performance from the Group B side, though the tournament primarily aimed to fill spots for the ACA Africa T20 Cup rather than the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The competition created a parallel structure to the global game's primary qualifying system, allowing participating nations a direct route to the continental title without navigating the broader international framework.