Kutlo Motseta
22nd July 2026
The President of the Botswana Basketball Association (BBA), Mothusi Thipe has expressed his joy over Botswana’s progress in recent years and is upbeat about the future of the game at grass roots level as the FIBA 3×3 Nations League tournament unfolds at the Royal Aria Stadium in Tlokweng.
Five countries are represented in the tournament, namely, Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Egypt, and Madagascar.
“This is the 3×3 Nations League … it is played across the whole world. This is stop 3 [in Africa] … Stop 1 was in Tunis, stop 2 was in Tanzania … we (Botswana) have the South Conference … the final one for the year is in Nigeria. Botswana is number 14 in Africa. The teams that qualify on this tour qualify for the Under 23 Basketball World Cup. By hosting this tournament, we will opportunity to break into the top 10,” Thipe said.
BBA has rolled out talent programs nationally, which has seen several players emerge from the northern part of the country. Motheo Semausu played notably well this tournament.
He one of the leading players in the country and is on an elite basketball scholarship in Australia where he ply’s his trade.
Thipe said, “We are not yet into our second year of office … but last time we went to the region five games in Namibia we came back with a bronze medal. We are making good progress in basketball. Lately we have been having talent development programs.”
He said, “We have had [basketball] camps in Gumere, Maun, Kasane that that’s our center of selection. Letsile Ramabu is one of our professional players. He is playing 3×3 in Japan. He is a member of our senior national team. He is our highest ranked player in Botswana. We are happy with the progress of basketball in Botswana. We beat Angola yesterday.”
Thipe stressed the importance of facilities in delivering the sporting codes objectives.
“The best thing in development for sports is facilities. Investing in sport starts with facilities … it’s not that people play soccer, it’s because there are soccer fields everywhere (in Botswana). During the covid break we were the ‘only ones’ surviving … because of the availability of basketball facilities at schools … facilities are challenging they are very expensive,” said Thipe.
In addition to Ramabu and Semausu, there are other promising players who are trying to make their mark in the United States of America (USA).
“We had five players playing in college in the USA … we are awaiting their arrival, we will hear whether they got contracts,” he added.
The Association is trying to strike a gender balance whilst developing the sport. Ms. Legako Johannes has been one of the standout performers for the women this week. She made her presence felt in both attack and defense, intercepting balls, wining rebounds and scored several baskets.
“We have a strong men’s basketball team we are trying to improve on the women. We have not taken ladies development lightly …. We have made a deliberate move to improve. Even when we think we have a chance to win a medal [with the men], we will send a women’s team to avoid increasing the gulf between men and the women’s leagues,” said Thipe.
This is the fourth annual 3×3 tournament. The participating teams will also have an opportunity to accumulate points for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in addition to qualifying for the under 23 world Cup later this year.
