[YOG Dakar 2026] These economic sectors are "predicted" to be among the future big winners of the competition

With the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), Senegal is opening itself up to the world. Like the cities that have hosted previous editions, the country expects positive impacts on several sectors of its economy.

Singapore and Nanjing: quantified economic benefits

In 2010, Singapore became the first city to host the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). At the time, 107 million Singapore dollars were budgeted for the event. However, the final costs reached 387 million Singapore dollars. Nevertheless, a report consulted by Seneweb in the government library indicates significant economic benefits.

On its website, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) states that Singapore 2010 welcomed 400,000 visitors, including 31,000 from abroad. These visitors spent approximately US$68.1 million. International tourism injected some US$41.9 million into the national economy, while contracts worth US$260 million were awarded to local businesses.

In Nanjing, China, the hosting of the 2014 Youth Olympic Games also appears to have boosted tourism. According to official municipal statistics, the number of tourist visits increased by 8.6% year-on-year, reaching 94.76 million. Tourism revenue, meanwhile, rose by 11.8%, to approximately 152 billion yuan.

Expected effects on accommodation, catering and the agri-food sector...

In Senegal, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games are taking place in a challenging economic and financial context. Authorities are therefore expecting a positive impact on the real economy, at a time when growth forecasts remain weak. The anticipated effects of the event are detailed in several government budget documents.

The Economic and Financial Report annexed to the initial 2026 Finance Law (LFI) anticipates that Dakar 2026 should stimulate the accommodation, catering, transport, and agri-food sectors. According to the document, the Games will constitute "a major driver, stimulating demand in the accommodation, catering, transport, and agri-food sectors."

The document anticipates, in particular, an increase in demand for food products. This outlook comes as a slowdown in growth is expected in the secondary sector, whose rate is projected to fall from 18.3% in 2025 to 2.9% in 2026. Despite this slowdown, the agri-food sub-sector is expected to benefit from the positive effects of the Youth Olympic Games, which should stimulate demand.

The service sector, the predicted big winner of the Youth Olympic Games

The services sector is also expected to benefit from this momentum, with projected growth of 5.4% in 2026, compared to 3.4% in 2025. This increase will be driven in particular by accommodation and food services, whose activity is expected to grow by 10.5% in 2026, compared to 4.3% in 2025. In transportation, growth is projected at 11.3%, compared to 2.2% a year earlier. As for retail activities, they are expected to grow by 5.1%, compared to 3.5% in 2025.

"These sub-sectors should benefit from the positive spin-offs of the organization of the Youth Olympic Games, which will attract more than 3,000 athletes and their support staff (...) and generate the arrival of tourists to attend the sporting events," the report states.

The 2027-2029 Multiannual Budgetary and Economic Programming Document (DPBEP) also reflects this outlook, forecasting 3.3% growth in the non-hydrocarbon secondary sector. This growth is expected to be largely due to the positive impact of the Youth Olympic Games on the agri-food sub-sector, whose activity is projected to recover by 0.2%, following a 2.5% contraction in 2025.

For now, these benefits remain projections. However, initial hotel bookings already offer a glimpse of the expected activity: some 3,300 rooms are reportedly reserved, representing 37,000 overnight stays in 74 hotels, according to members of the organizing committee. This momentum, if it continues and grows, could provide a much-needed boost to several sectors of the Senegalese economy.