After the Youth Olympics, Dakar's venues need a plan. Here is one
Two Senegalese scholars propose who should run the stadiums, pools and beach sites in Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly once the Games end on 13 November.
Dakar — Senegal is a week away from hosting the Youth Olympic Games, from 31 October to 13 November, the first Olympic event ever held in Africa. Two lecturers at Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Djibril Diouf, a specialist in public-private partnerships, and Amadou Moctar Ndiouck, who works on sports infrastructure law, are already thinking about the day after. They set out a legacy plan in The Conversation.
The venues
- Dakar: Iba Mar Diop Stadium, an Olympic swimming pool and the Tour de l'Œuf complex.
- Diamniadio: Dakar Arena (badminton, futsal) and the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium (archery).
- Saly: beach and sea events in a tourist resort area.
Funding partners include the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the French Development Agency, alongside public money and public-private partnerships, the model Senegal has already used for its toll highway and Blaise Diagne International Airport.
Who should run what
1. Dakar's Iba Mar Diop Stadium and pool should go to INSEPS, the national higher institute of sport that has been on the site since 1982, with the university involved, so students and athletes use them every day. 2. Diamniadio's facilities should be managed by the Office for the Management of Sports Infrastructure, a public body attached to the sports ministry. 3. Saly's beach sites suit private operators, given the tourism around them.
One model will not fit all three, the authors say, and local sports facilities should be funded from national and local budgets.
Building on it
They welcome the sports ministry's programme, under way since 2025, to build 25 multi-purpose facilities in 25 municipalities. Senegal's new Sports Code, adopted in May 2026, sets out who is responsible for building them.
Source: The Conversation, 28 September 2026.
