Will the future of canoeing be played out in Africa? The International Federation of the discipline (ICF) announces the signing, Thursday July 28, of an unprecedented partnership agreement with the Association of African National Olympic Committees (ACNOA). It was initialed in Algiers by Mustapha Berraf, the president of ANOCA, and Thomas Konietzko, his counterpart from the ICF. Objectives: develop the practice on the African continent, advance the elite and allow easier access to leisure disciplines. The agreement notably includes a pilot project financed by the ICF aimed at developing sustainable structures in national federations, with the ambition of detecting and training new talents. It will focus on training local coaches and officials, and supporting club activities, to encourage children and young people to take up canoeing. A continental manager will be appointed to provide assistance, in close coordination with the national federations. He will work with two national federations in six-month periods. The first two countries concerned will be Egypt and Nigeria. The partnership between the ICF and ANOCA also includes a component dedicated to the preparation of the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, with the aim of qualifying as many representatives from African countries as possible.
