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TheAfrican Games, formally known as theAll-Africa Games or thePan African Games, are acontinentalmulti-sport event held every four years, organized by theAfrican Union with theAssociation of National Olympic Committees of Africa and theAssociation of African Sports Confederation.
All of the competing nations are from theAfrican continent. The first Games were held in 1965 inBrazzaville,Congo. TheInternational Olympic Committee granted these Games official recognition as a continental multi-sport event, along with theAsian Games andPan American Games. Since 1999, the Games have also included athletes with a disability.[1]
The Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) was the organizing body for the Games. On 26 July 2013, the Extraordinary Assembly of the SCSA held inAbidjan,Ivory Coast on the sidelines of the 5th Session of the African Union Conference of Sports Ministers recommended the dissolution of the SCSA and transfer of all its functions, assets & liabilities to the African Union Commission.[2][3] The organization of the African Games is now managed by three parts, the AU (the owners of the game), the ANOCA (occupying the technical aspects) and the AASC (developing marketing policy, sponsorship and research resources).
After running previous 11 editions as the All-Africa Games, the games has been renamed the African Games. The decision for the name change was arrived at, during the Executive Council meeting of the African Union held inAddis Ababa,Ethiopia in January 2012.[4] 54 countries were participating in the most recent edition inMorocco 2019. In 2023, the 13th edition of the game was hosted in Accra, Ghana.[5][6] It was aim to use sports for national and continental development, aligning with Ghana's transformative agenda and the African Union's Agenda 2063, "Africa We Want."[7]
Modern Olympics founderPierre de Coubertin conceived the Pan African Games as early as 1920. Thecolonial powers who ruled Africa at the time were wary of the idea, suspecting the unifying aspect of sport among African people would cause them to assert their independence.
Attempts were made to host the games inAlgiers, Algeria in 1925 andAlexandria, Egypt in1928, but despite considerable preparations taken by coordinators, the efforts failed. TheInternational Olympic Committee's (IOC) first African member, Greek-bornEgyptiansprinterAngelo Bolanachi, donated funds to erect a stadium, but still the Games were set back for another three decades.
In the early 1960s,French-speaking countries of Africa including France organized theFriendship Games. The Games were organized by Madagascar (1960) and then Ivory Coast (1961). The third games were set for Senegal in 1963. Before they were completed, African Ministers of Youth and Sport met in Paris in 1962; as a few English-speaking countries were already participating, they rechristened the Games as the Pan African Games. The Games were granted official recognition by the IOC as being on par with other continental Games such as theAsian Games and thePan American Games.
In July 1965,the first games were held inBrazzaville,Congo, now called the All-Africa Games. From 30 countries, around 2,500 athletes competed.Egypt topped the medal count for the first Games.
In 1966, the SCSA was organized inBamako; it manages the All-Africa Games. The second edition were awarded toMali in 1969, but amilitary coup forced the cancellation of the Games.Lagos, Nigeria stepped in as host for the Games in 1971. Those Games were finally held in1973 due to theBiafra War, which had just ended in Nigeria.
In 1977,the 3rd Games were scheduled to take place inAlgeria but due to technical reasons had to be postponed for a year and were held in 1978. Continuing the pattern,the next Games were scheduled to take place inKenya in 1983, but were pushed back to 1985 and finally took place inNairobi in 1987.
The four-year Olympic rhythm has not missed a beat since, and the Games have been organized inCairo,Harare,Johannesburg, andAbuja. In 2007, Algiers once again hosted, becoming the first repeathost. The 2011 edition of the All-Africa Games was held in Maputo,Mozambique in September 2011. Brazzaville hosted the 2015 edition in honor of the Games' 50th anniversary.
All 53 members affiliated to the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) are eligible to take part in the Games. In history, the 53 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have sent competitors to the Games.
South Africa was banned since the beginning of the games in the1965 All-Africa Games till the1995 All-Africa Games becauseApartheid officially ended when it was invited for the first time to compete the games.
Morocco was banned from the games from the1987 All-Africa Games to the2015 African Games because of apolitical dispute overWestern Sahara. Morocco claims the territory as its "Southern Provinces" and controls 80% of it while theSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which claims to be a sovereign state, controls the remaining 20% as the "Free Zone". In 2018, after the Moroccan government signed its treaty of return to the African Union, the country also pledged to return to the African Games.Rabat,Morocco hosted the2019 African Games.[8][9][10]
| Games | Year | Host[11] | Opened by | Dates | Nations | Competitors | Sports | Events | Top nation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | Total | |||||||||
| 1 | 1965 |  Brazzaville | Alphonse Massemba | 18 – 28 July | 30 | 2,500 | 10 | 54 |  Egypt | ||
| – | 1969 |  Bamako | Disrupted by military coup | ||||||||
| 2 | 1973 |  Lagos | Yakubu Gowon | 7 – 18 January | 36 | 12 | 92 |  Egypt | |||
| 3 | 1978 |  Algiers | Houari Boumediene | 13 – 28 July | 38 | 3,000 | 12 | 117 |  Tunisia | ||
| 4 | 1987 |  Nairobi | Daniel Arap Moi | 1 – 12 August | 41 | 14 | 164 |  Egypt | |||
| 5 | 1991 | Cairo | Hosni Mubarak | 20 September – 1 October | 43 | 18 | 213 | Egypt | |||
| 6 | 1995 |  Harare | Robert Mugabe | 13 – 23 September | 46 | 6,000 | 19 | 224 |  South Africa | ||
| 7 | 1999 | Johannesburg | Thabo Mbeki | 10 – 19 September | 51 | 6,000 | 20 | 224 | South Africa | ||
| 8 | 2003 | Abuja | Olusegun Obasanjo | 5 – 17 October | 50 | 6,000 | 22 | 332 | Nigeria | ||
| 9 | 2007 | Algiers | Abdelaziz Bouteflika | 11 – 23 July | 52 | 4,793 | 27 | 374 | Egypt | ||
| 10 | 2011 |  Maputo | Armando Guebuza | 3 – 18 September | 53 | 5,000 | 20 | 244 | South Africa | ||
| 11 | 2015 | Brazzaville | Denis Nguesso | 4 – 19 September | 54 | 15,000 | 22 | 323 | Egypt | ||
| 12 | 2019 |  Rabat | Prince Moulay Rachid | 19 – 31 August | 54 | 4,386 | 26 | 343 | Egypt | ||
| 13 | 2023 |  Accra | Nana Akufo-Addo | 8 – 23 March 2024 | 52 | 1,490 | 1,154 | 2,644 | 23 | 335 | Egypt |
| 14 | 2027 | Cairo | President of Egypt(expected) | 20 January – 7 February | Future event | ||||||
| 15 | 2031 |  Kinshasa | President of DR Congo(expected) | TBD | Future event | ||||||
35 sports, 2 demonstration sports and 6 Para sports were presented in African Games history until2019 African Games (also 1991 Diving and 1999 Netball were demonstration).
| Number | Event | 1965 | 1973 | 1978 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Athletics |  | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Cycling | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Gymnastics |  | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Shooting | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Swimming | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Boat Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Canoeing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Rowing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Sailing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Combat Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Arm Wrestling | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Boxing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Fencing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Judo | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Karate | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Kickboxing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Taekwondo | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Wrestling | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Team Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 17 | Baseball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 18 | Basketball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 19 | Beach volleyball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 20 | 3x3 basketball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 21 | Cricket | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 22 | Field Hockey | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 23 | Football | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 24 | Handball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 25 | Netball | | | | | | | Dem | | | | | | |
| 26 | Rugby sevens | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 27 | Softball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 28 | Volleyball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Racquet Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 29 | Badminton | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 30 | Squash | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 31 | Table Tennis | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 32 | Tennis | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Other Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 33 | Archery | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 34 | Chess | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 35 | Cue Sports (Snooker) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 36 | Diving | | | | | Dem | | | | | | | | |
| 37 | Equestrian | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 38 | Petanque | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 39 | Triathlon | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 40 | Weightlifting | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Demonstration Sports | ||||||||||||||
| 41 | Esports | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 42 | Mixed martial arts | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 43 | Nzango | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 44 | Pharaoh Boxing | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 45 | Pickleball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 46 | Scrabble | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 47 | Speed-ball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 48 | Sambo | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 49 | Teqball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Para Sports ( from 2019African Para Games ) | ||||||||||||||
| 50 | Para Athletics | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 51 | Goalball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 52 | Para Powerlifting | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 53 | Para Swimming | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 54 | Para Table Tennis | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 55 | Wheelchair Basketball | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
50 nations have won at least a single medal in the African Games, from 54 National Olympic Committees participating throughout the history of the Games. 43 NOCs have won at least a single gold medal.[12]
| No. | Nation | Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt (EGY) | 12 | 753 | 551 | 524 | 1828 |
| 2 | Nigeria (NGR) | 12 | 517 | 462 | 468 | 1447 |
| 3 | South Africa (RSA) | 7 | 429 | 394 | 337 | 1160 |
| 4 | Algeria (ALG) | 12 | 339 | 350 | 448 | 1137 |
| 5 | Tunisia (TUN) | 12 | 282 | 270 | 316 | 868 |
| 6 | Kenya (KEN) | 12 | 142 | 152 | 185 | 479 |
| 7 |  Senegal (SEN) | 12 | 69 | 78 | 171 | 318 |
| 8 | Ghana (GHA) | 12 | 55 | 83 | 116 | 254 |
| 9 |  Ethiopia (ETH) | 12 | 54 | 62 | 80 | 196 |
| 10 | Morocco (MAR) | 4 | 48 | 55 | 74 | 177 |
After hearing about thePan-African Games whilst on a business trip toCongo,Soviet Union-Armenian diplomat Ashot Melik-Shahnazaryan got the idea to create thePan-Armenian Games.[13]
| Africa |  | |
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| Americas | PASO –Panam Sports | |
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||
| International | |
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