ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT MUSTAPHA BERRAF
- The Minister of Youth and Sport of Cape Verde,
- Ministers and Ambassadors here present,
- The President of NOC Cape Verde,
- Dear Friends of Sport and Olympism,
- Ladies and Gentlemen,
- Distinguished personalities,
This day marks a defining milestone for the African Olympic and Sports Movement in general and Cape Verde in particular. As you are all well aware, we are here for the ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the brand new building to house headquarters of NOC Cape Verde and, together, we will once again write the history of sport and Olympism in Africa.
Cape Verde, this wonderful country, is demonstrating its commitment to making sport a vehicle for development and building an ideal way of life for its young people. Your country’s National Olympic Committee is determined to endow itself with a futuristic infrastructure that meets its objectives of fostering sport and Olympism.
This speaks to the NOC’s desire to push for good practices in sports governance and is to be congratulated. It demonstrates the seriousness and resolve of an entire nation to let the sporting world know that it will spare no effort to take its place in the hall of fame of best African sporting nations.
Allow me, on behalf of the entire African Olympic and sports movement, to congratulate your country on the quality of the organisation and the warm welcome extended to us by the Organising Committee ahead of this ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the NOC headquarters. We are especially grateful to the authorities and people of Cape Verde, foremost amongst them His Excellency the President of the Republic.
I hail the dynamism of the President of NOC Cape Verde, Mrs Filomena Maria FORTES, and the foresight of the project coordinator, Engr. Habu Ahmed GUMEL, ANOCA Treasurer General.
I am also pleased with the excellent cooperation that exists between the NOC of Cape Verde and the Ministry of Sport for the benefit of the youth of this country.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished personalities,
The project to build headquarters for NOCs in need is an ANOCA initiative, which came to the bitter conclusion that there was a major lack in terms of convenient and modern headquarters for several African NOCs, which were housed in very poor conditions. Some were housed in makeshift offices, Presidents’ residences, and public spaces that were either unsuitable or outdated.
Gone are the days! This project has already provided some African NOCs with state-of-the-art headquarters. ANOCA offers the NOCs an option to fund the construction of modern headquarters. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the entire African Olympic and Sports Movement, which needs to step up a notch.
This project is going on satisfactorily, with more NOCs requesting this assistance. The NOCs of Benin, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Eswatini, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo have received the necessary resources and, in 2022, Eswatini NOC for instance officially commissioned its new headquarters on 25 February 2023.
In 2023, contracts of all those who submitted their applications will be finalised after evaluation.
We are delighted to see that Cape Verde is now firmly on track and, in the coming months, will have an enabling work environment that is conducive to the development of sport and Olympism, all to Africa’s credit.
I am further delighted, along with the entire ANOCA family, that Olympic Africa as a whole is bearing witness to the vitality of our continent through the implementation of such a project, which guarantees a promising future for sports governance in Africa.
Long live Africa in solidarity!
Thank you for your kind attention!
Mustapha BERRAF
IOC Member
President of ANOCA
