Sport and Tourism in the WAEMU: Dakar becomes the laboratory of African technological innovation

With the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) approaching, the Senegalese capital will host the third edition of the African Sport and Tourism Forum (FAST) on November 4th and 5th. Opening this continental event, a hackathon will bring together young innovators tasked with designing digital solutions to optimize hospitality, mobility, and infrastructure management during major sporting events.

How to streamline urban transport during a global event, enhance the visitor experience, or modernize the management of sports facilities? These are the concrete challenges that African youth will have to address at the third edition of the African Sport and Tourism Forum (FAST), which will be held in Dakar.

Dakar , a laboratory of innovation in the lead-up to the Youth Olympic Games

Scheduled for November 4th, an opening hackathon will bring together young developers and entrepreneurs. Participants will work on technological solutions applied to five strategic sectors: sports, tourism, urban mobility, infrastructure management, and sporting events.

The stakes are high for the Senegalese capital, which is preparing to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The massive influx of delegations and visitors demands a rapid transformation of urban services. The scale of the needs can be gauged by the recent 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, which attracted more than 2 million visitors and required a billion dollars in infrastructure investments.

Economic opportunities and certified skills

Under the theme "Sport, Tourism and Digital Technology: Creating Opportunities for African Youth ," the 2026 edition of FAST aims to go beyond a simple competition of ideas. On November 5, the forum will offer a certification masterclass, strategic panels, conferences, and networking sessions focused on access to new sports-related professions, startup creation, and digital content development.

The central objective of the event remains to establish direct links between young project leaders and an ecosystem composed of investors, public decision-makers, brands and tourism stakeholders.

After a first edition in Abidjan on the sidelines of the CAN (300 participants) and a second in Kinshasa during the fiftieth anniversary of the Rumble in the Jungle fight (150 participants), the Dakar stage confirms the pivotal role of FAST in promoting the sports and tourism economy on the continent.