13th African Games in Ghana: Everything you need to know

The delayed 2023 African Games kicked off this week, with the official opening ceremony in Ghana's capital, Accra, on Friday.

The games, formerly called the All-African Games, are held every four years, the year before the Olympics. This year, 52 countries are competing, making it an actual pan-African sporting event.

Some 5,000 athletes will battle it out to win medals and break records in 30 disciplines, an increase from the 2019 African Games, which offered 26 sports. The 2015 Games had 22 disciplines.

Events are being held in Accra, Cape Coast and Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city.

Table tennis was the first event to launch, with Egypt clinching the gold medal in both the men's and women's singles events, while the football competition kicked off on Thursday.

The 13th African Games wraps up on March 23, 2024.

What disciplines are in the competition?

The 30 disciplines include eight Olympic qualifying events, 15 non-qualifying and seven demonstration sports that showcase emerging trends and disciplines. 

The Olympic qualifying events are swimming, athletics, badminton, cycling, tennis, table tennis, wrestling and triathlon.

Demonstration sports include eSports, mixed martial arts, sambo and scrabble, promising what the African Union calls a "glimpse into the future of sports entertainment."

Which countries are the most successful?

Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa are the most successful countries. All of them were in the top three gold medal winners in the past six games. One has to go back to 1987, when Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria won the most gold medals, to find another country in the top three.

How prestigious are the 13th African Games?

Most popular athletes will be absent because the delayed 2023 games are now taking place so close to the Paris Olympics in July.

Some disciplines also hold national championships around this time, meaning experienced athletes may stay home to compete in these events instead.

South Africa, for example, said in a press release that because of this, the 13th African Games "provide an opportunity for several younger athletes to gain international experience at the highest level on the continent."

Also, given that the continent's football teams battled to win the Africa Cup of Nations only last month, few nations have sent a squad for the football competition, which only has eight entries.

But Kenya is sending reigning world 800-meter champion Mary Moraa, and Burkina Faso is also sending 2020 Olympic long jump bronze medal winner Hugues Fabrice Zango.

Despite this, says DW reporter Isaac Kaledzi, "the African Games are important for our athletes.

"They will afford people the opportunity to showcase their talent and also for some to qualify for the Olympic Games."

Why were the games delayed?

The short answer is because of a fight over money and delays in getting facilities ready.

Traditionally, the African Union (AU) organizes the games. But in 2019, the AU, the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and the Association of African Sports Confederations (AASC) all signed a deal to run that year's games as an Olympic qualifier before the Tokyo Olympics.

The three organizations then fell out over marketing revenue and ownership of the games.

At the same time, Ghana had delays in completing the facilities.

These factors delayed the preparation, so instead of taking place in August 2023, the games were moved to March 2024.

In the same way that the delayed Tokyo Olympics were still branded as the 2020 Olympics even though they took place in 2021, the 2023 African Games are also keeping their name.

Is Ghana now ready to host the event?

Ghana built the new $145 million (€132.5 million) Borteyman Sports Complex. It hosts a 1,000-seater Olympic-sized pool, a 10-lane competition pool and an 8-lane warm-up pool.

The spokesperson for the Local Organizing Committee overseeing the games' preparations, Dan Kwaku Yeboah, is proud of the complex.

"We also have two indoor sports halls where the indoor competitions are going to be held, and they are world-class. We have the complex [with five tennis courts], which is also ready to international standards.

Ghana also spent $34 million completing the University of Ghana stadium, which had been under construction for two decades. Athletics, football, and rugby are among the sports that take place there.

The government refurbished accommodation facilities on campus for the athletes' village to the tune of $16 million.

"The country is ready for the games to start," DW reporter Kaledzi, who is based in Accra, said. Kaledzi, who will also report on the games, has already toured the facilities. "Everything is set, the facilities look attractive and up to standard."

The government has also purchased some 55 buses and numerous other vehicles to ferry competitors and officials from the game's village to the Borteyman Sports Complex, 30 minutes drive away.

"All the venues where the games will take place, the roads to these facilities and the accommodation are in place," Kaledzi said. "So, we can say that everything looks good for the games."

Eyram Attipoe contributed to this article.

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu