Connecting the worlds of sport and development financing

During his speech in Ouagadougou in November 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron characterized sport as “a lever for young people and for economic and social development in Africa.” The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights sport as a unifying and inclusive force: it contributes to peace, the empowerment of women and young people, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals on health, education and social cohesion.

In February 2018, at a lunch with Liberian President George Weah, it was decided that AFD would “lead an initiative to mobilize sports stakeholders to promote sustainable development”. This initiative, Sport en Commun, was launched at the Finance in Common summit on November 11, 2020.

The aim of the Sport in Common platform is to connect the worlds of sport and development finance in order to further advance the Sustainable Development Goals. With the creation of a one-stop shop for innovative and high-impact solutions, the platform focuses on 3 key areas:

• Promoting and accelerating financing and support for projects of all sizes
• Facilitating networking and interaction between stakeholders
• Promoting the issue and encouraging the sharing of experience

The platform is also being used for a number of other AFD projects. Notably, in 2020, it will host the “Sport and Health” call for projects in partnership with the European Guild. In 2021, it will provide the secretariat for the “Sustainable Development Through Sport” coalition and support the creation of a potential “Sport Impact Investment Fund” with the ultimate aim of mobilizing public and private financing in sport.

• Supporting the creation of a Sport & Development ecosystem in Africa and the raising of its profile
• Promoting high-impact sport entrepreneurship in Africa
• Facilitating the transition from public to private financing in the sport and development sector