The president of Winwin Afrique, Régis Charpentier, stayed in Abidjan for a week (from Thursday, June 8 to Wednesday, June 14, 2017), at the invitation of the Ministry of Sports and Recreation of Côte d’Ivoire. A fruitful Abidjan stay for the boss of winwin Afrique, which begins on Friday, June 09, 2017, with the signing of a Framework agreement with the Minister of Sports and Recreation, François Albert Amichia. In order to accompany the policy of the said ministry in terms of sports infrastructure offers, promotion and development of sports in Côte d’Ivoire.
Several objectives are targeted by the signing of this agreement. In particular, to conduct feasibility studies on projects for the establishment or renovation of sports facilities, whether school and university facilities, those dedicated to the practice of mass sports, those dedicated to major events such as the future African Cup of Nations in 2021; to study and propose a national program for the deployment of school and university sports facilities inclusive and sustainable. It is also, through this agreement, to develop the establishment and financing of a Fund for Sport, and to map the needs of Ivorian sport and its infrastructure, through a digital platform.
This is a step forward towards the development of sport and particularly for the improvement of the country’s sports infrastructure offer. To reach a level of professionalization and development of sport, Côte d’Ivoire must identify and implement financing strategies. And this agreement with winwin Afrique is part of this framework. Because, says François Amichia, Ivorian Minister of Sports and Leisure, “the needs of the sports movement are more and more numerous while the resources of the State are dwindling. It seems necessary, even essential, to explore other avenues and develop new complementary financing strategies for the implementation of the national sports policy 2016-2020.
To identify strategies for financing Ivorian sport, a seminar, in which winwin Afrique took part, was organized from Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 June 2017 in the seaside town of Grand-Bassam. National experts and development partners reflected on ways and means to sustainably finance sport in Côte d’Ivoire.