The 2023 Africa Games, which were moved to 2024, will now take place from March 8-23, 2024, the Local Organising Committee has confirmed.
The announcement was made at a press conference on Tuesday night, at the end of a two-day inspection exercise by the Africa Union Sports Council.
The multi-sport event has faced many challenges since Ghana were awarded the hosting rights in 2018, with the country struggling to deliver infrastructure on time, while disagreements between the African Union, owners of the games, and the Association of African Sporting Confederations (AASC) were only resolved last week.
“The Africa Union Sports Commission will like to call upon all stakeholders and all potential partners to support Ghana towards the hosting of very successful Africa Games,” Dr. Decius Chipande, Co-ordinator for the Africa Union Sports Council said at Tuesday’s presser.
The facilities
The University of Ghana Stadium will serve as the center of the games, with complementary facilities to be constructed at Borteyman to support.
The sports complex at Borteyman, which will cost an estimated $145 million, will house the following facilities:
• 400-metre 6-Lane Athletics Warm-Up Track with playing field for football; Washrooms
for male and female; Spectator stand for 500 people.
• One Thousand-Seater Competition Swimming Pool, collapsible to Five Hundred (500)
Seater. 8-lane Competition Swimming.
• 8-Lane Warm-up Swimming Pool.
• Five Hundred-Seater (500) Temporary Dome (Handball, Judo, Karate, Taekwondo,
etc).
• One Thousand-Seater (1,000) Multi-Purpose Sports Hall (Badminton, Boxing,
Volleyball, Weightlifting, etc).
• Five (5) Tennis Courts complex including One Thousand-Seater (1,000) Centre Court
(Covered Spectator Stand with a VVIP viewing stand),
• Space for Children’s Playground.
President Akufo-Addo also announced that the facility will be converted into a University for Sports Development and as a result, additional facilities such as lecture halls, student hostels among others will be added to the Borteyman complex to serve this purpose.
The total investment into the project will rise to $195 million when the educational facilities are added.
The games will see all 54 African countries participating with over four thousand athletes expected to take part in the 15-day event competing in 25-sporting disciplines.