Nigeria has been tipped to retain its title at the 16th African Scrabble Championship in Liberia, despite losing key players to relocation abroad.
President of the Pan African Scrabble Association, PANASA, Adekoyejo Adegbesan, who gave the backing, said the country still has enough depth to defend its dominance on the continent.
Nigeria has won 14 of the last 15 editions of the championship and remains the dominant force in African Scrabble.
Speaking ahead of the tournament scheduled for October 22-25, 2026, in Monrovia, Adegbesan, popularly known as Sheikh, admitted that the Japa wave has affected the talent pool, but insisted Nigeria remains favourite.
“From what I see here today, even though we’ve lost a lot of our players who have relocated outside the country, I still think we have enough to win in Africa,” he said.
He, however, warned that Uganda and Kenya will be the biggest threats to Nigeria’s title defence.
“I’ll put on my non-partisan hat here and say other countries too. Uganda are good as well. Kenya also would participate and would compete. I think it’s between those three countries, but Nigeria will still have more than enough to retain their title,” Adegbesan stated.
The PANASA President also expressed satisfaction with Liberia’s preparations, noting strong support from the Liberian Ministry of Sports, including efforts to redesign the championship banner and assist the host Scrabble association in organising the event.
Meanwhile, PANASA has opened an additional entry window for players who missed national qualification, allowing them to feature if endorsed by their national associations at a fee of $300, same as diaspora players.
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