Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games: The Dakar Metropolitan Area (ADM) is expanding the Games to four departments of Dakar with the inauguration of sports infrastructure and equipment.

The Minister of Urban Planning, Local Authorities, and Territorial Development, Moussa Bala Fofana, inaugurated significant sports infrastructure in the departments of Pikine, Guédiawaye, Keur Massar, and Rufisque on Thursday, October 29, 2026. This infrastructure and sports equipment was built as part of the second phase of the Stormwater Management and Climate Change Adaptation Project (PROGEP 2). The official ceremony was attended by the Director General of the Municipal Development Agency (ADM), Dr. Mamouth Diop; the Mayor of Keur Massar Nord, Adama Sarr; the World Bank's Director of Operations, Djibrilla Issa; and the coordinator of the Organizing Committee for the Youth Olympic Games (COJOJ) in Keur Massar Nord, among others.

Structuring investments of more than 2.2 billion FCFA

This project includes six synthetic turf football pitches, two multi-purpose pitches, local fitness trails, and attractive and innovative landscaping, all made available to the residents of the beneficiary municipalities. These sports facilities and infrastructure, the result of a comprehensive vision—that of the Stormwater Management and Climate Change Adaptation Project (PROGEP 2)—were built in five target municipalities: Dalifort-Forail, Médina Gounass, Keur Massar Nord, Keur Massar Sud, and Sangalkam. As part of a structured partnership with the Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (COJOJ), the project represents a total financial commitment of 2,270,175,572 CFA francs.

These infrastructures are not solely dedicated to leisure. They have been designed as genuine spaces for living, civic engagement, and social cohesion. As such, ADM, in partnership with the beneficiary municipalities, intends to implement a support economic model enabling the watershed management committees responsible for the community maintenance of stormwater drainage systems to utilize these infrastructures to manage additional resources and create local jobs.

ADM at the heart of the territorialization of the Games

In line with the official motto of the Youth Olympic Games, "Africa Hosts, Dakar Celebrates," the National Agency for Municipal Development, through this project, is deploying the complementary vision of "ADM Territorializes." The objective is clear: to spread the Olympic spirit in the peri-urban areas of Dakar and to actively involve local authorities and communities.

Thanks to the proven approach of PROGEP 2, resilient public spaces managed by community watershed committees are being equipped with high-quality sports facilities. These developments aim to foster inclusive grassroots sport (also accessible to people with disabilities, women, and students from schools and universities) while laying the groundwork for identifying and supporting national sporting elites.

Objective: "to ensure that the event is not experienced solely within the competition venues, but that it permeates the surrounding areas."

According to the Minister of Urban Planning, Local Authorities, and Territorial Development, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games offer Senegal and Africa a historic opportunity. The success of Dakar 2026 will not be measured solely by the quality of the organization, the athletes' performances, or Senegal's international visibility. "It will also be measured, and above all, by what remains in our towns and neighborhoods: accessible facilities, better-designed public spaces, mobilized communities, and a youth that can continue to participate, meet, and get involved. This is the whole point of the Games' local focus," emphasized Moussa Bala Fofana.

His aim, therefore, is to ensure that the event is not experienced solely in the competition venues, but that it permeates the territories, mobilizes communities and generates a lasting popular dynamic, particularly in the suburbs of Dakar.

In this regard, the minister explains that his ambition can be summed up in one formula: "Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates, and the territories take ownership of the heritage."

After the inauguration of the sports infrastructure and equipment, ADM launched the youth mobilization caravan.

Launched in 2012, the implementation of PROGEP (and subsequently PROGEP 2) by ADM has profoundly transformed the landscape of the Dakar metropolitan area, elevating flood-prone zones to the status of resilient territories. With the strategic support of key international partners such as the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the project combines environmental management, urban planning, and social integration. By linking stormwater management to the development of sports and community infrastructure, the Government of Senegal reaffirms its commitment to balanced land-use planning and the promotion of equal opportunities for all young people in Senegal.