NAIROBI, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- After two decades of absence from the Afrobasket Championships, Kenya is seeking a return to the tournament with crucial FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers on Nov. 25-29 in Rwanda.

The east African nation last featured in the championships at the finals in 1993 in Nairobi.

Rwanda will host the teams from 12 countries while Alexandria, Egypt will have four countries competing under a COVID-19 bubble.

Kenya overcame South Sudan in a highly charged final of the pre-qualification games last year in Nairobi to book its place in the next stage, and will open its tournament against Senegal on Nov. 25, then take on Angola the following day before wrapping up its group stage match against Mozambique on Nov. 27 in Group B.

The Kenyan captain, Eric Mutoro, expressed confidence ahead of the championship qualifiers.

"I promise Kenyans that we will raise our flag high and do well in the qualifiers having had maximum and uninterrupted preparations, as a team we want to take basketball to a notch higher by qualifying for the 2021 championships and also eye the 2024 Summer Olympic Games," Mutoro told Xinhua on Monday.

Defending champion Tunisia will headline Pool A alongside the Central Africa Republic, Madagascar and DRC Congo.

Group C consists of the hosts Rwanda, Nigeria, Mali and Algeria while Group E has Egypt, Morocco, Uganda and Cape Verde with the match set to be played in Egypt.

The top three teams from the qualification rounds will join Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea who have qualified for the Afrobasket finals to be hosted in 2021 in Rwanda. Enditem

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