Senegal racing against time to deliver Africa's first ever Olympics

Senegal is racing against time to ensure that its ready to host Africa's first Olympics event. The west African nation is burning the midnight oil to complete the remaining works on five of the seven designated sporting venues for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Now, it's all systems go after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission led by retired Kenya sevens star, Humphrey Kayange, gave Dakar approval to enter the final phase of preparations for the 13-day event, that will run from October 31 to November 13.

"Senegal will have valuable lessons to give to any host country that will want to host games in terms of the budget, in terms of how the experience was for them. There'll be valuable lessons that we have learned from Dakar, where any country interested in hosting an Olympic event can pick be able to shape their bidding application," Kayange, a Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympian, told CGTN Africa in Dakar.

Kayange was accompanied to the 8th and final Coordination Commission inspection tour before the opening ceremony of Dakar 2026 by IOC Directors, Christophe Dubi, James Macleod and Pierre Ducrey.

Completion Rate

"Things are going quite well. We have a 97% completion rate, whether it's on the competition venues, on the Youth Games Projects or on other logistics such as food, accommodation and the road infrastructure," Mamadou Ndiaye, the Organizing Committee President added.

With just over 212 days to go before the October 31 opening ceremony, work is complete at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium and Dakar Sports Complex, a spot-check by CGTN Africa revealed.

Both are located in Diamniadio City, in the outskirts of the capital in Dakar.

Construction is ongoing in three brand new facilities, the Equestrian Center in Diamniadio as well as the Tour de l'Oeuf Olympic Center, the Iba Mar Diop Complex and Dakar Expo Center, all inside the capital.

Saly Beach, a seaside resort and urban commune in Thies Region on the Petite Coast of Senegal, south of Dakar, is also being given the final touches for the YOG.

Speaking after a media tour organized by the YOG Local Organizing Committee last week, officials emphasized all pending construction work will be complete in 90 days.

"The IOC Coordination Committee has concluded their inspection of all our facilities and they have given us a positive report based on what we shared with them. Our aim now is to host events long before the opening ceremony to test these facilities and we have already organized competitions featuring local and visiting competitors. We are confident all our facilities will pass all the tests," CEO of the Dakar 2026 YOG Local Organizing Committee, Ibrahima Wade, told CGTN.

Chinese Constructed

He was speaking at the Chinese-constructed Iba M Complex that will be the center of the track and field program of the fourth Youth Summer Games.

Located in central Dakar, the 30,000-seater complex overlooks the famous Grand Mosque and features a track and field stadium, training track and an indoor arena.

It will host Athletics, Boxing, Futsal (preliminary rounds) and Rugby sevens competitions.

The nearby 15,000-capacity Tour de l'Oeuf Olympic Center will be the main aquatic center for all swimming events.

It will also stage 3x3 basketball, Baseball 5-aside, Breaking and Skateboarding competitions on the opposite site that will be converted into a family theme park after the YOG as part of its legacy project.

The Dakar Arena will be the venue for Basketball and Futsal finals and adjacent to it, is a smaller facility that will be used for training courts.

And the eye-catching 50,000-seater Abdoulaye Wade Stadium will host both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as Archery.

"It's a modern stadium, one of the most modern stadiums in all of Africa. As you can see, there's no track and field. It's a sports stadium that is made to be close to the field."

"So, you see the fans are very close and it makes it very vibrant, and the atmosphere is very great and the sound is very loud when you hear the fans cheer during the games," Deputy Chief Operations Officer Dakar 2026 Thierno Cisse further explained.

Senegal is preparing to welcome over 2,700 athletes featuring in 25 competitive and 10 non-competitive sports in the IOC event aimed at being an international sports, education and cultural festival for teenagers aged up to 17.

Dakar torch

So far, organizers have received 14,000 volunteer applications from 115 countries, with 6,000 positions available. 

The Dakar 2026 YOG torch will tour all 14 regions of Senegal, making 30 stops with other torch relay ceremonies hosted across Africa in solidarity with the West African nation.

Ibrahima Cisse, the CEO of the Local Organizing Committee, affirmed that organizers have partnered with the country's military and local police to ensure smooth movement of competitors, officials and fans to and from the venues to avoid disruptions by the busy Dakar traffic.

"It's going to be the home of the first-ever Olympic ceremony in Africa. So, standing here is history in the making, as one would say," Cisse added.

The Youth Olympics Torch celebrations will also be organized across Africa supported by the Olympic Solidarity, extending the reach of the Games beyond Senegal.

According to organizers, the Dakar 2026 Games will engage over 300,000 young people across Senegal in sporting, cultural and educational activities.

On Monday, March 30, organizers announced the appointment of Senegalese-born Italian influencer Khabane Serigne "Khaby" Lame as a global ambassador for the Dakar 2026 YOG.

Mutwiri Mutuota, Muturi Kaibere, and Sammy Koech were part of the CGTN Africa team among the invited international media for the 8th IOC Coordination Commission visit to Dakar.