It's done. Thomas Bach has completed in Kenya a long African tour, the last of his two terms as IOC president, which began last week in Senegal, then continued in South Africa, Uganda, Lesotho and finally Nairobi.
Five countries in ten days. No time to hang around. But Thomas Bach assured the essential: he spoke of the future. Always welcome for a continent that has never yet organized the Olympic Games. And too rarely tried to obtain them.
Skilled in his communication, the IOC president waited until the end of his African tour to raise the issue of an African bid for the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. He did so in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, before taking the plane back to Lausanne.
Taking advantage of a press conference held at a luxury resort in Nairobi, the Villa Rosa Kempinski, the German leader called on African countries to no longer just be observers of Olympic bids. He invited them to embark on the adventure.
For 2028 and 2032, the train has already passed. But for the future, the door is open. With a first opportunity, brandished by Thomas Bach in front of his audience: 2036. For the Games to take place in Africa, an African country must show interest in organizing them., he argued as a matter of course. I know that a number of African countries are in a position to host the event after all the reforms we have undertaken. You can apply for the 2036 Games. The countries that have submitted their applications are not even part of the G20 nations. There are a lot of opportunities because of these reforms. »
The reforms? The IOC's Agenda 2020+5. Certainly one of the most visible and significant traces that Thomas Bach will leave on the Olympic movement when he quits his presidential office next June, three months after the election of his successor. By profoundly modifying the process of selecting host cities, and above all the cost of the Games with priority given to existing facilities, the IOC's new deal opens the door more widely to applicants.
The only downside is that the facts do not yet follow the texts. Since the implementation of Agenda 2020+5, the IOC has awarded the Games, both winter and summer, to countries that have already hosted them at least once, and even several times: France for 2024, the United States for 2028 and Australia for 2032 in summer, Italy for 2026, France for 2030, the United States for 2034 and probably Switzerland for 2038 in winter. Not really a revolution.
Nevertheless, Africa must get started. "We orient the Games towards long-term development plans of the city, region or country, making them affordable and leading to a positive economic impact, explained Thomas Bach, quoted by the Kenyan site Pulse Sports. We are now in a position where we are not talking about the cost of the Games, but we are focusing on the investment that helps stimulate community life ».
The IOC President continued: “ I can only encourage Africa to gain confidence, to come forward and express its interest in a country or a city. In the meantime, I think Africa can already be proud because we have awarded the 2026 Youth Games to Senegal. That was our commitment."
At the latest count, only one African country appears on the still unofficial and evolving list of countries in discussions with the IOC for the Summer Games in 2036 and/or 2040: Egypt. This is not its first attempt, having tried its luck with its capital, Cairo, during the highly competitive campaign for the Summer Games in 2008. But Cairo was not selected by the IOC in the short list of the five finalists.
