The Association of National Olympic Committees in Africa (ANOCA) herby announces the holding of the 41st Seminar for all Secretaries General of African National Olympic Committees on 27 an 28 September 2025 in Maputo, Mozambique. This major event on the African Olympic agenda, which marks a strategic milestone, aims at shaping the African Olympic Movement’s future for the next four years, that is the 2025-2028 period.

A central theme for African sports’ challenges

Holding under the ambitious main theme “2021-2024 four-year plan: implementation, evaluation, lessons learnt and strategic objectives for the 2025-2028 plan”, this seminar proposes a forward and backward-looking approach that will enable participants to draw a comprehensive balance sheet of achievements of the just-ended period, while charting priority strategic avenues for the new Olympic cycle, which will focus on ethics, sports performance and inclusion.

Discussions will include among other topics:

• The execution of the 2021-2024 plan, marked by the African participation in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and structural reforms carried out in several NOCs.
• The evaluation of successes and shortcomings, by putting forward issues like good governance, financial transparency, gender equality, training of staff and sustainable development.
• Setting strategic objectives for 2025-2028, so as to increase Africa’s presence and influence on the world Olympic scene, prepare for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and plan major African events such as the Angola 2025 African Youth Games, and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

In this vein, the Maputo seminar intends to be a brainstorming and solutions laboratory, for African Sports to assert itself as an actor to reckon with on the international scene. This approach is perfectly in line with the move towards professionalisation and modernization which ANOCA instils in the African Olympic movement.

Major challenges for African sports’ future

This 41st seminar comes at a crucial moment of the African Olympic Movement. With the just-ended Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the upcoming Angola 2024 African Youth Games, and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games in view, the Maputo meeting will bear a strategic and crucial importance, in terms of sharing key knowledge and capacity building, which will open new avenues for the African Olympic Movement.

As a matter of fact, during the two-day meeting, Secretaries General will delve on issues including sports development, training of technical staff, the fight against doping, the promotion of gender equality in sports, and the strengthening of governance within African sports institutions.

The Maputo seminar thus marks the entry into this “New quadrennial” of the African Olympic Movement, as mentioned in his letter by ANOCA’s Secretary General, Ahmed Abou Elgasim Hashim. 

Under the able leadership of its President, Honourable Mustapha Berraf, ANOCA    intends to keep its role as African sports development’s spearhead, basing itself on the expertise and commitment of all national stakeholders represented by their Secretaries General.

The Secretaries General key role

As true NOC mainsprings, Secretaries General are at the heart of Committees’ institutional and operational functioning. This seminar will enable them to harmonize their strategies, to strengthen inter-African cooperation and to share best practices gathered from their respective experiences.

ANOCA President, Honourable Mustapha Berraf rightly reminded it as follows: « This seminar is an essential step to ensure continuity, efficiency and the modernity of Olympic action in Africa». He also hailed the commitment of African NOCs who, in spite of national contexts which at times are compelling, remain the pillars of sports development on the continent.

Mozambican hospitality takes pride of place

By choosing Maputo to host this meeting, ANOCA also emphasizes Mozambique’s increasing role in the promotion of sports and Olympic values. Endowed with dynamic and passionate youths, this country will provide delegates with an appropriate strategic environment for exchanges and discussions, suitable for strategic thinking. Moreover, in his capacity as active member of ANOCA since independence, Mozambique perfectly illustrates challenges and opportunities presently faced by African sports.

The geographical location of this country will also contribute to the tightening of links between ANOCA and this part of the continent, thus contributing to the desired geopolitical balance within the continental organization.