Ahly piped fellow Egyptian side Smouha 68-67 to clinch the FIBA Africa Zone 5 title and qualify to the competition now known as the AfroLeague.
Zonal winners and first runners up qualify to the competition which is in line to tip off in January next year with teams from different parts of the continent set to feature.
Zone 5 games were played in Tanzania’s capital Dar Es Salaam giving Ahly-the 2016 Champions- a return to the top flight competition. The team declined participating in last year’s edition.
In the absence of Ahly last year, Uganda’s City Oilers clinched the zonal title but the team did not participate in this year’s competition due to unpreparedness.
Tanzania’s JKT, Rwanda’s REG and Kenya Ports Authority from Kenya competed in the zonal qualifiers but failed to progress.
Competition in Zone 3 which has teams from West Africa compete is expected to be played later this year.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
