By Edwin Mbewe
NAIROBI-(MaraviPost)-Uganda’s She Cranes have been crowned queens of African netball after dethroning defending champions South Africa’s SPAR Proteas 56–53 in a thrilling final of the 2026 Africa Netball Cup at the Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi on Saturday, September 26.
MaraviPost followed the 2026 Africa Netball Cup matches closely through Discover Sport and Africa Netball’s official social media platforms, tracking the action, results and developments throughout the eight-day continental championship.
World Netball confirmed that the tournament ran from September 19 to 26 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, with 10 teams participating in the African World Cup qualification competition.
The She Cranes produced a remarkable unbeaten campaign to reclaim the continental crown, ending South Africa’s reign after the Proteas had defeated Uganda 56–34 in the 2025 final in Lilongwe, Malawi. Uganda’s latest victory represents a significant turnaround for a team that has continued to make major strides on the African and international netball stage.
Uganda dominated Pool 2, recording victories over Nigeria, Zambia, hosts Kenya and Malawi. They opened the competition with a commanding 68–30 victory over Nigeria before defeating Zambia 59–40 and Kenya 62–42.
Their toughest pool encounter came against Malawi, but the She Cranes held their nerve to win 54–49 and finish at the top of their group unbeaten.
South Africa were equally impressive in Pool 1, winning all four of their matches before meeting Malawi in the semi-final.
The Proteas defeated the Queens 62–46 to secure their place in the final, while Uganda overcame Namibia 52–41 to set up another highly anticipated showdown between two of Africa’s leading netball nations.
Uganda turns the tables
The final was a repeat of the 2025 continental championship decider, but this time Uganda refused to allow South Africa to dictate the contest.
The She Cranes held their composure throughout the closely fought encounter and eventually prevailed 56–53, sending their supporters into celebrations while ending the Proteas’ latest reign as African champions.
The victory restores Uganda to the top of African women’s netball and underlines the rapid development of the She Cranes in recent years.
It also adds another chapter to a rivalry that has produced several memorable encounters at continental championships, World Cups and the Commonwealth Games.
South Africa retain men’s crown
While South Africa surrendered the women’s title, their men’s side continued their dominance of African netball.
The South African men successfully defended their continental championship after overcoming a determined Eswatini side in the final.
Their latest success extends South Africa’s dominance in the men’s competition, with the team retaining the title after also winning the previous edition.
Eswatini pushed the defending champions hard and mounted a strong challenge during the contest, but South Africa recovered to secure the championship.
Qualification drama overshadows tournament
Away from the court, the 2026 championship was also marked by considerable confusion surrounding the qualification pathway for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
The Nairobi event doubled as Africa’s regional qualification competition for the World Cup. However, South Africa and Uganda had already qualified for Sydney through their World Netball ranking positions as of December 1, 2025.
World Netball’s published qualification information stated that the next two eligible African teams would receive invitations to the 2027 World Cup.
The decision to combine the continental championship with the World Cup qualification process subsequently created uncertainty over the competition format.
Africa Netball acknowledged that the combined format had caused confusion, while the Netball Association of Malawi sought clarification over changes to the qualification arrangements and the cancellation of the originally expected Malawi-South Africa semi-final.
The controversy added another layer of drama to an already intense championship.
Malawi Queens claim bronze
For Malawi, the tournament ended with a bronze medal after the Queens defeated Namibia 50–45 in the third-place play-off.
The Queens had enjoyed an impressive start to the competition, defeating Zambia 72–38, hosts Kenya 55–47 and Nigeria 82–22 before losing 54–49 to Uganda.
They subsequently faced South Africa in the semi-final and lost 62–46.
Rather than allowing that defeat to derail their campaign, the Queens regrouped and produced a determined performance against Namibia to secure third place.
The bronze medal represents an improvement on Malawi’s fourth-place finishes in the previous two editions of the Africa Netball Cup.
More importantly, Malawi secured an invitation to the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney alongside Namibia, Uganda and South Africa.
Namibia also secures World Cup place
Namibia emerged as another major beneficiary of the Nairobi competition.
Despite losing 52–41 to Uganda in the semi-final and subsequently falling to Malawi in the bronze-medal match, Namibia secured one of Africa’s available places for the 2027 World Cup.
Africa will therefore be represented in Sydney by Uganda, South Africa, Malawi and Namibia.
Kenya finishes fifth
Hosts Kenya ended their campaign on a positive note after defeating Zimbabwe 63–57 in the fifth-place play-off.
The result gave the home supporters something to celebrate after Kenya narrowly missed out on the medal matches.
The hosts had earlier produced competitive performances during the pool stage, including their encounter with Uganda, before finishing outside the top four.
A dramatic end in Nairobi
After eight days of competition, the 2026 Africa Netball Cup came to an end at Kasarani with Uganda celebrating the women’s crown, South Africa retaining the men’s championship and four African nations securing places at the 2027 Netball World Cup.
The tournament provided high-quality competition but was also marked by difficult conversations around regulations, qualification criteria and the format of the championship.
At the closing ceremony, Africa Netball Acting President Rebekka Goagoses called for greater unity and stronger foundations for the development of netball across the continent, urging administrators and stakeholders to work collectively for the growth of the sport.
For Uganda, however, the closing ceremony was dominated by celebrations.
After losing the continental final to South Africa in Malawi in 2025, the She Cranes returned to Nairobi with determination and left as African champions.
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