The 13th African Games were hosted by Ghana from 8–23 March 2024.[1] Despite having Accra as the main host city, the games were held in two sub-host cities:[2] Kumasi and Cape Coast.[3][4] The games were initially planned to be held in August 2023, however a failure to complete facilities on time and arguments over marketing revenue resulted in the games being delayed to March 2024.[5][6]
 | |
| Host city | Accra |
|---|---|
| Nations | 53 |
| Athletes | 2,644 |
| Events | 335 |
| Opening | 8 March 2024 (2024-03-08) |
| Closing | 23 March 2024 (2024-03-23) |
| Opened by | Nana Akufo-Addo (President) |
| Closed by | Mustapha Ussif Minister for Youth and Sports of Ghana |
| Torch lighter | Benjamin Azamati |
| Main venue | Legon Sports Stadium |
| Website | Accra2023ag.com |
Accra, Ghana[7][8] (selected)
Abuja, Nigeria[8]
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso[8]Ghana won the rights to host the event in October 2018.[9] In November 2021, Ghana signed an agreement with the African Union to host the event.[4]
Plans to build a new stadium for the event were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]
The new Borteyman Sports Complex located in Borteyman, Accra is intended to be used for indoor sports.[11]
| Venue | Events | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accra Sports Stadium |  Football (details)
|
40,000 | Existing |
| Borteyman Sports Complex[12][13][14][15] |  Swimming (details)
|
500 | Commissioned |
 Handball (details)  Wrestling (details)
|
500 | ||
 Badminton (details)  Volleyball (details)
|
1,000 | ||
 Tennis (details)
|
1,000 | ||
| Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium[16] |  Field hockey (details)
|
Existing | |
| Achimota Oval[17][18] |  Cricket (details)
|
Existing | |
| University of Ghana Sports Facilities[17] |  Athletics (details)  Rugby sevens (details)  Weightlifting (details)
|
Renovation | |
| Ga-Mashiae Hall |  Judo (details)  Karate (details)  Taekwondo (details)
|
Existing | |
| Bukom Boxing Arena |  Boxing (details)
|
4000 | Existing |
The mascot, the logo and the website of the event were unveiled in December 2021.[19][20][21]
The mascot, known asɔkɔdeɛ (come on), is an anthropomorphic eagle wearing the Ghanaian Flag.[22][23]
From the 54 members of the ANOCA. 53 sent delegations to compete in the event, the only exception was Cape Verde. Also noteworthy is the presence of a delegation from the African Judo Union. This happened because the National Sports Federation in Angola is suspended and the country's athletes competed as neutrals in the sport. However, their 3 medals are added to Angolan delegation in the final table.
| Participating National Olympic Committees |
|---|
 Angola (110) Benin (109) Botswana (65) Burkina Faso (129) Burundi (24) Cameroon (65) Central African Republic (25) Chad (29) Republic of the Congo (77) Comoros (10) Ivory Coast (50) Djibouti (13) Democratic Republic of the Congo (137) Egypt (284) Equatorial Guinea (33) Eritrea (33) Eswatini (13) Ethiopia (161) Gabon (36) The Gambia (68) Ghana (414) (Host) Guinea (20) Guinea-Bissau (5) Kenya (219) Lesotho (9) Liberia (20) Libya (14) Madagascar (65) Malawi (10) Mali (84) Mauritania (10) Mauritius (77) Morocco (81) Mozambique (32) Namibia (89) Niger (28) Nigeria (350) Rwanda (44) São Tomé and Príncipe (7) Senegal (104) Seychelles (48) Sierra Leone (48) Somalia (1) South Africa (189) South Sudan (29) Sudan (7) Tanzania (77) Togo (62) Tunisia (136) Uganda (217) Zambia (73) Zimbabwe (89) |
Squash was expected to feature at the 13th African Games. But, when the final list of events, they were out from the games program.[24][25] In February 2022, it was announced that cricket and arm wrestling will make its debut in the 2023 edition of the games.[26][27] Rugby union (sevens) is also set to make its debut.[28] A total of 23 sports games have been confirmed for the continental event.[29][30][31][32]
Athletics (details) Badminton (details)
3x3 basketball (details) Boxing (details)
Chess (details) Cricket (2) (details)
Cycling (details) Field hockey (2) (details) Football (2) (details) Handball (details) Judo (details) Karate (details) Rugby sevens (details) Swimming (details)
Table tennis (details) Taekwondo (details) Tennis (details)
Triathlon (details) Volleyball (details)
Weightlifting (details) Wrestling (details)Demonstration sports:[33]
Mixed martial arts (details)
Pickleball (details)
Teqball (details)
Speed-ball (details)
Sambo (details)The schedule for the Games is as follows.[34]
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Gold medal events | CC | Closing ceremony |
| March | 4th Mon |
5th Tue |
6th Wed |
7th Thu |
8th Fri |
9th Sat |
10th Sun |
11th Mon |
12th Tue |
13th Wed |
14th Thu |
15th Fri |
16th Sat |
17th Sun |
18th Mon |
19th Tue |
20th Wed |
21st Thu |
22nd Fri |
23rd Sat |
Events | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremonies | OC | CC | ||||||||||||||||||||
 Arm wrestling
|
14 | 14 | 28 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Athletics
|
3 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 47 | ||||||||||||||||
| Badminton
|
● | ● | ● | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
 3x3 basketball
|
● | ● | ● | ● | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
 Beach volleyball
|
● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Boxing
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 25 | 25 | |||||||||||||
| Chess
|
1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cricket
|
● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Cycling
|
2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| Field hockey
|
● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Football
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Handball
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Judo
|
5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 | |||||||||||||||||
| Karate
|
8 | 6 | 2 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby sevens
|
● | ● | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Swimming
|
7 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 42 | ||||||||||||||||
| Table tennis
|
● | 2 | ● | ● | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| Taekwondo
|
4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 25 | |||||||||||||||
| Tennis
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 4 | ● | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Triathlon
|
2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Volleyball
|
● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Weightlifting
|
12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wrestling
|
6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Daily medal events | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 38 | 31 | 29 | 25 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 56 | 5 | 335 | |
| Cumulative total | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 37 | 75 | 106 | 135 | 160 | 181 | 202 | 217 | 221 | 228 | 244 | 259 | 274 | 330 | 335 | ||
| March | 4th Mon |
5th Tue |
6th Wed |
7th Thu |
8th Fri |
9th Sat |
10th Sun |
11th Mon |
12th Tue |
13th Wed |
14th Thu |
15th Fri |
16th Sat |
17th Sun |
18th Mon |
19th Tue |
20th Wed |
21st Thu |
22nd Fri |
23rd Sat |
Events | |
* Host nation (Ghana)
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt (EGY) | 103 | 47 | 43 | 193 |
| 2 | Nigeria (NGR) | 47 | 34 | 40 | 121 |
| 3 | South Africa (RSA) | 32 | 32 | 42 | 106 |
| 4 |  Algeria (ALG) | 29 | 38 | 48 | 115 |
| 5 | Tunisia (TUN) | 22 | 27 | 38 | 87 |
| 6 | Ghana (GHA)* | 19 | 29 | 21 | 69 |
| 7 | Morocco (MAR) | 9 | 12 | 14 | 35 |
| 8 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 9 | 8 | 5 | 22 |
| 9 | Mauritius (MRI) | 9 | 5 | 11 | 25 |
| 10 | Kenya (KEN) | 8 | 8 | 21 | 37 |
| 11 | Eritrea (ERI) | 7 | 2 | 6 | 15 |
| 12 | Senegal (SEN) | 4 | 7 | 18 | 29 |
| 13 | Uganda (UGA) | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 |
| 14 | Zambia (ZAM) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| 15 | Madagascar (MAD) | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
| 16 | Niger (NIG) | 4 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| 17 | Cameroon (CMR) | 3 | 13 | 14 | 30 |
| 18 | Zimbabwe (ZIM) | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 19 | Benin (BEN) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 20 | Democratic Republic of the Congo (COD) | 2 | 7 | 9 | 18 |
| 21 | Angola (ANG) | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Mali (MLI) | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | |
| 23 | The Gambia (GAM) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 | Libya (LBA) | 1 | 11 | 1 | 13 |
| 25 | Namibia (NAM) | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 26 | Burkina Faso (BUR) | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| 27 | Guinea (GUI) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 28 | South Sudan (SSD) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 0 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| 30 | Mozambique (MOZ) | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 31 | Botswana (BOT) | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| 32 | Liberia (LBR) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 33 | Central African Republic (CAF) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Gabon (GAB) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Togo (TOG) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 36 | Equatorial Guinea (GEQ) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Somalia (SOM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 38 | Republic of the Congo (CGO) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 39 | Tanzania (TAN) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 40 | Chad (CHA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Djibouti (DJI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Guinea-Bissau (GBS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Lesotho (LES) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Rwanda (RWA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (44 entries) | 336 | 334 | 430 | 1100 | |
In January 2022, president of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons visited Ghana in support of the 2023 African Para Games which are also to be held in Ghana.[38][39]
For the first time in the history of the games, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) was introduced as a demonstration sport in the African Games. The event was conducted by Global Association Of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA). MMA athletes from all over the continent came to participate. Over a span of 2 days (11 and 12 March 2024) nearly 50 fights were conducted to finally crown the African Games Champions in their respective weight classes.[40]
The 2023 African Games MMA tournament included athletes from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Libya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sudan, and Togo.[41]
The final results of the 2023 African Games MMA tournament were announced by GAMMA on their website.[42]
