BK Arena

BK Arena does not look like a football ground. The surface is parquet, not grass, and the stands rise steeply around a timber floor rather than a wide pitch. What you see in the images is a compact indoor space where the players stand close to the spectators.

The venue was built for basketball, volleyball and handball, and the wooden court supplied by the Italian manufacturer Sport System remains the central feature. It opened in 2019, shortly after construction began in January of that year, and the capacity of 10,000 has not changed since. The original name of Kigali Arena was replaced in 2022 after a sponsorship deal with the Bank of Kigali, which is why the letter abbreviation BK now appears on the façade.

This is the largest indoor arena in East Africa, and the scope of its use goes beyond sport: concerts and conferences are also held here. It has hosted the Basketball Africa League. The court is not the same as the natural grass surface you would find at an open-air ground, and the atmosphere inside is shaped by that difference.

The arena sits next to the Amahoro Stadium, but the two buildings serve different purposes.