Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: Between budgetary constraints and the urgency of construction projects, the State is accelerating

With less than five months to go before the opening of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), scheduled for October 31 to November 13, the Senegalese government is working tirelessly to meet the deadlines. Meeting this Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at the President Mamadou Dia administrative building, Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lo held a briefing with the various stakeholders involved in organizing this historic event for the African continent.

This follow-up meeting, held at the request of the President of the Republic following the National Security Council meeting of December 16, 2025, aimed to review the concerns of the Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (COJOJ) and to assess the progress of the commitments made by the various State structures.

The head of government welcomed the progress made by the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Youth Games (COJOJ) and the involvement of the relevant ministries. However, he also reiterated that budgetary constraints now necessitate rigorous choices in order to focus resources on essential needs.

“We are obliged to be very shrewd in our arbitrations and to be very diligent since the President of the Republic often reminds us: we do not have the right to fail,” insisted Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lo.

According to information presented at the meeting, most sports infrastructure and competition venues show significant progress.

However, the construction of the Olympic Village remains the main point of concern for the COJOJ and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a few months before the arrival of the first delegations.

In the presence of the ministers concerned, directors general, technical advisors, the coordinator of the Dakar-2026 Youth Olympic Games and members of the COJOJ, the discussions made it possible to identify immediate priorities, anticipate the risks of delay and define the measures to be taken to accelerate the execution of the work.

The Youth Olympic Games coordinator also outlined the next technical steps of the project, as Senegal prepares to host the first Olympic event in history to be held on the African continent.

As the deadline approaches, the State wants to avoid any missteps and maintain pressure on all stakeholders involved so that Dakar 2026 meets national and international expectations.