The plan is anchored on the broader framework of the Africa Union (AU) Agenda 2063. Africa Union Sport Council (AUSC) coordinator, Dr Decius Chipande, who is based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, told MmegiSport that they were in Gaborone to validate the AUSC five-year draft strategic plan. He said the strategic plan is aimed at achieving the AU Agenda 2063 aspirations as well as delivering the development of quality sport on the continent. “We want the sport to have a defined role on how it will contribute towards the Africa we want. Above all we want to develop quality sport on the continent,” he said. He added the objective was to draft a comprehensive strategic plan running from 2024 up to 2028 to guide the work of AUSC and promote a more systematic and comprehensive approach to the long-term planning of African sport and planning.
Chipande said the draft strategic plan that was adopted in Gaborone would be adopted during the 2025 ministers’ meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He said there are some African countries without sport policies or sport act. Chipande said the other priority area within the plan is delivering safe, inclusive, and accessible sport and recreation that advances equity and inclusion in Africa. “Sport is now scientific, we cannot continue coaching and developing the traditional way. We need to catch up, we need to refine our methodology, sport science and improve incentives for athletes and other stakeholders involved in sport,” he said. Sport across the continent is faced with challenges such as doping, funding, and gender-based violence, amongst others. Reacting to the challenges, Chipande said since sport is part of society, it reflects what is happening within communities. “That is why it is important to take a comprehensive approach and a cross-sectoral approach to address some of the challenges. We were in Gaborone to look at strategies, encourage the development of policies that address those elements, ensure that those policies are operational,” he said.
Chipande said one of the key priorities that they discussed within the framework is to ensure that the continent hosts high-level competitions and that there is an effective and viable organisation of high-quality events and competitions. He said the legacy of the games is part of the strategy citing that in Ghana, there is a multi-purpose infrastructure built during the 2023 Africa Games. “Amongst the five regions, the most vibrant and operational region is AUSC Region Five. Each region operates in a semi-autonomous way, has its own experts, structures, and its own Council of Ministers, that is in with the AUSC statute that was adopted by Africa Union (AU) heads of state in 2016. At regional level, the ministers are the supreme policy organ and at continental level, they meet in a specialised committee on Youth, Culture and Sport at the AU headquarters,” he said.
Chipande said each region has its own mandate and programmes that it implements on behalf of AUSC. He said the specialised committee on Youth, Culture and Sport encouraged each region to organise open, youth and regional games, with the hope that in the future all regions host such games. He said the objective of the games is to promote quality sport within the AU region, mobilise structures and give the opportunity to young people to compete. He added that the regional games will be used as a platform to groom athletes for continental competitions such as the Africa Games and global competitions.
