$200m for 2023 African Games infrastructure - The Daily Statesman Newspaper

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, has announced that the government has allocated $200 million for infrastructure for the 13^th African Games to be hosted by Ghana.

He disclosed that funds meant for the hosting, organizing and executing the Games had been secured following Cabinet approval while the preparations across facilities, administration and other essential areas are taking place earnestly.

“We got parliamentary and cabinet approval for the infrastructure. For the provision of the infrastructure, we are talking of almost $200 million, and it is a document that is in Parliament and has gone through all the stages of procurement. Works are ongoing, and more information will be given when needed,” he said.

Infrastructure

Speaking at the Minister’s Press Briefing yesterday in Accra, Mr Ussif said the government is working assiduously to upgrade sporting facilities in the country.

“All the renovation works at the Accra Spots Stadium have been completed. At the Baba Yara Stadium, the Phase I is completed, and we are working on Phase II to ensure that all the issues that CAF have indicated, we meet all those requirements to ensure that the facility can host any tournament,” the Minister said.

The Minister also indicated that the Cape Coast and Sekondi stadiums are being refurbished while 10 youth resource centres are currently being constructed.

Mr Ussif further told pressmen that 90 astro turfs had been put up, courtesy the ministry and other agencies, with work on some 30 ongoing.

He said the facilities being constructed at Borteyman, which are legacy projects, will be transformed into university after the African Games.

Mr Ussif also hinted of the construction of a Games village where athletes will be hosted, adding that the National Sport Colleges is being retooled as a global institution to provide training for technical officials for all sporting disciplines in the country.

According to him, so far, 240 officials have been trained in sports management and administration since March 2021.

Grassroots development

He said that the recent successes chalked within the sports sector had encouraged a rapid shift in focus to more grassroots football development rather than promotion at the apex.

Among the recent successes the Minster listed included the Black Satellites winning the Africa Under 20 Football Championship, Team Ghana’s impressive performance at Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with the highlight being the nation’s first Olympic medal in nearly 30 years through boxer Samuel Takyi, the rise of athletics and the qualification of the Black Stars to the 2022 World Cup.

Mr Ussif added that rather being swollen-headed and complacent by the gains, the Ministry is focusing greater attention on sports development at the grassroots level to ensure more laurels in the future.

“The fundamental push is to shift from sports promotion to sports development to ensure that we maintain this level and even surpass it with more success,” he said.

He explained that the new focus is all-encompassing, assuring that the ministry and its stakeholders would tackle various aspects of sports development.

“It is all-embracing and holistic development: grassroots participation, succession planning, improvement of facilities, access to equipment and logistics and the enhancement of the entire sports value chain,” he indicated.

The Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to providing adequate financial support, but added that this would be done alongside effective costing and auditing of all sporting activities to ensure value for money in the course of developing sports.

Corporate support, the Minister noted, is key to complementing government’s funding efforts in sports development. He therefore urged corporate Ghana to come on board as partners for sports development.

Youth development

Touching on youth development, Mr Ussif said that formal skills training had been organised for over 2,000 young men and women under the Skills Towards Employment & Productivity (S.T.E.P) programme.

He further said that the programmes are ongoing in the National Youth Authority’s Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institutes across the country.