Senegal Sets Dynamic Pace to Prepare for Youth Olympics in Dakar 2026

Senegal is just one of many countries represented at the Africa Station – a hub for athletes and fans during the Paris Olympics, situated on Île Saint-Denis, north of Paris. With ambassadors like beloved Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour, who held a special concert, the country showed its readiness to host the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar in 2026.

Youssou N’Dour said it was a privilege to play at the Africa Station in Paris, “the current capital of the world for sports and fun”.

“I told my manager that I wanted to get out of the studio where I’m currently recording the next album. I really needed a break from the creative process. I had a window of 15 days to perform live concerts in August and, it coincided beautifully with Paris 2024,” he told RFI’s Zeenat Hansrod.

The venue, situated on the small island of Île Saint-Denis five minutes north of Paris, attracted hundreds of his fans on Sunday night.

Although many couldn’t get tickets, they stayed on anyway to listen to the songs of the Mbalakh King, as he is affectionately known.

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Success for a continent

Mohamed Gnabaly, the mayor of Île Saint-Denis, hailed the evening as “a formidable moment of communion for African people”.

He has already begun working towards Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics Games which will take place in Senegal, the first country on the African continent to host an Olympic sports event.

“We are part of the Dioko Alliance, coordinated by Paris 2024, to provide expertise and resources to Senegal. I also met the mayor of Cotonou last week and we’re already working on youth projects,” Gnabaly told RFI’s Kayz Loum.

N’Dour agreed that Dakar 2026 is an event “for all Africans” and, its “success a win for the continent”.

The musician told RFI’s Claudy Siar that winning athletes of African descent at Paris 2024 are also a tribute to multi-cultural countries.

“France should be really proud of its ethnic diversity, when you look at all the French champions harvesting medals, it’s not only white people, is it?,” he said.

“This is the France we dream of and defend, this is what France is today and it’s winning!”

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Overcome hurdles

Mayor Gnabaly spent the last two years setting up the Africa Station.

“When I tabled the idea of an Africa Station regrouping the African nations whose athletes are competing in the 2024 Olympics, I was told Africa is complicated.

“That comment only made me more determined to overcome hurdles and show what we are capable of,” said the 38-year-old Franco-Senegalese mayor.

He even received a request from the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, whose city will host the 2028 Olympics, to visit this “unique model of one Olympic village regrouping African countries, some of which would never have had the means to set up a meeting place for their supporters”.

Sports in Africa

Youssou N’Dour, who started singing at the age of 13, playing centre-forward as a young boy and admitted he used to dream of becoming a professional footballer. But since then he has broadened his horizons. He told RFI he discovered fencing during the Paris Olympics and is fascinated by it.

A brief stint as Culture and Tourism minister of his country (2012 – 2013) helped him better understand the workings of politics.

“Sports and culture are contributing factors to economic development but not all African nations have the same budget and priorities. Sometimes the choice is between building between schools for children or sending athletes overseas.

“That’s why we definitely need more solidarity among nations,” he told RFI’s Kaïgé-Jean Bale Simoës de Fonseca.

After France, N’Dour and his Super Etoile de Dakar band will tour northern Europe, Scotland, Tunisia and ending with Italy on 17 August.