Dakar Youth Olympics: Africa’s Debut on Borrowed Money

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Dakar Youth Olympics: Africa’s Debut on Borrowed Money.

On Dakar’s Place du Souvenir Africain, the countdown to a premiere is under way: A march of 100 women marked the start of the Youth Olympic Games in mid-September. Later, Senegalese basketball legend Mame Maty Mbengue carried the torch to the Olympic cauldron. Between October 31 and November 13, around 2,700 young athletes will compete in 35 sports or sports programs in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.

The Youth Olympic Games are the smaller version of the Olympic Games. Athletes aged between 15 and 18 can participate. It is the first Olympic sporting event in Africa. Senegal is therefore hosting a major sporting event while preparing for it under extremely tight financial conditions.

€194 million meets a debt crisis

Organization and implementation

According to Sportschau, the organization and implementation of the Youth Olympic Games have been budgeted at around €55 million. A further €139 million at minimum has been earmarked for sports venues and other infrastructure. That puts the preliminary bill for Dakar 2026 at at least €194 million. The final total remains unknown.

A large share of these costs will be borne by the Senegalese state. Elimane Haby Kane, a sociologist and head of the pan-African think tank LEGS-Africa, describes the strain this creates: Senegal is bearing a large part of the costs from its own budget. For the government, it is difficult to find this money while also financing the country’s other expenses.

Why the debt leaves little room for the Games

Between 2019 and 2024, the government at the time failed to correctly report debts running into the billions. The International Monetary Fund subsequently introduced its loan program. At the end of 2024, the debt ratio stood suddenly at 132 percent of gross domestic product.

Senegal cannot ease its financial constraints by printing money. The country does not have its own national currency, but uses the CFA franc, issued by the West African central bank and pegged to the euro. Debts must be repaid in euros or dollars. There is a preliminary agreement with the IMF on new assistance, but no money has been paid out so far.

€80 million comes as a repayable loan

The role of the French development agency

One thing is certain: The French development agency AFD is providing €80 million for sports infrastructure. The AFD grants this money as a loan. Senegal must repay the full amount, plus interest. It is not a non-repayable grant.

Citing banking confidentiality, the AFD does not disclose the interest rate or the deadline by which Senegal must repay the loan. The structure is clear: The country receives the money for the event, but bears the resulting debt burden itself.

International contracts, local consequences

Some of the major infrastructure contracts went to international companies. The Chinese state-owned company CCECC was awarded the contract to renovate the Iba Mar Diop sports complex. Sogea-Satom, a subsidiary of the French Vinci group, is renovating the national swimming pool. Other contracts went to a Senegalese-French consortium and the Senegalese construction company CSE.

It is not known how much of the contract values actually remains in Senegal or how many jobs are created locally. Kane warns of money flowing abroad while domestic companies benefit hardly at all. Budzier does concede, however, that for the non-Chinese projects, some of the money goes into local labor. For the Chinese projects, however, construction workers are flown in or brought in by ship.

The IOC sees a familiar pattern in Olympic costs

Alexander Budzier is a co-author of the Oxford Olympics Study. Since 1960, he and his team have examined the development of costs for the Olympic Summer and Winter Games. According to their findings, every Games studied became more expensive than planned.

The Youth Olympic Games are considerably smaller, so their absolute costs are not comparable with those of the Olympic Games. In Budzier’s assessment, however, the same financial pattern is emerging in Dakar: The costs initially budgeted are rising sharply during preparations.

For major Olympic events, he cites an almost tripling of costs, putting the increase at 250 percent. The IOC does not confirm this figure. It did not answer questions about spending, revenue, subsequent operating costs or the financial risk to Senegal. According to the IOC, the final total will not be published until the 2026 annual report. The Senegalese sports ministry also did not respond to Sportschau’s requests.

More than 960,000 tickets are available

Price levels and ticket numbers

More than 960,000 tickets have been made available for Dakar 2026. The organizers do not publish how many have already been sold. 300,000 tickets were reserved under a solidarity program for young people, schools, clubs and associations.

Tickets for individual competitions cost from around €1.50, while day passes are available from €2.30. The low prices are intended to make access easier. There is nevertheless no figure for actual ticket sales.

The hopes of Africa’s population

Kane points to concrete expectations in Senegal: People hope for greater visibility for the country, positive effects on tourism and a mobilization of young people. These expectations form the strongest counterargument to the warning that the major event will offer little economic benefit.

The economic assessment is markedly more skeptical. Andrew Zimbalis, the US sports economist who has studied the economic effects of the Olympic Games for decades, says: Independent economists are almost unanimous that hosting the Olympic Games brings no economic gain and is often even a loss-making proposition. The fact that individual people or companies benefit does not automatically mean that the economy as a whole profits.

Between IOC promises and the reality of athletes

New facilities and their promises

The IOC promotes new sports venues and better conditions for Senegal’s young sportspeople. In a promotional video, young skateboarders ride through a new, colorful bowl shown as part of the Youth Olympic Games in their home country.

Research published in July by the African sports portal Sport News Africa paints a markedly different picture. Several athletes report missing equipment, self-funded training camps and unpaid prize money. The judoka Mbagnick N'Diaye, the 2023 African champion and a participant in the Paris Olympics, is still waiting for the prize money for his title. The canoeist Combe Seck says she has to finance travel and equipment herself.

What remains after the closing ceremony

The IOC and organizers promise a lasting legacy for Senegal. Costs were supposed to remain low because predominantly existing sports venues would be used and modernized. New construction was scarcely envisaged in the original plan. In the end, construction took place anyway.

After the Games, the facilities must continue to be operated, maintained and filled with training programs. That requires permanent funding. Budzier points to Rio de Janeiro, where money was lacking after the Olympic Games to implement parts of the promised legacy. Subsidies and grants are needed to use competition venues. If a state runs out of money, that becomes difficult.

The verdict on Dakar therefore is not decided with the end of the Youth Olympic Games. Afterwards, the sports venues, operating costs and loans remain. That is precisely where the unresolved bill for Africa’s Olympic premiere lies.