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Sports and Development
Our commitment
A driver of inclusion and social cohesion, sport contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in education, health, gender equality, peace, and social cohesion. Driven by a rapidly growing youth population, sport is also a major global economic sector, accounting for nearly 2% of global GDP and growing faster than the global economy. In light of these trends, AFD Group has positioned sport as a driver of solidarity-driven investment and sustainable impact, with a primary focus on young people in Africa.
Sport: an accelerator of sustainable development
Our approach
Sport: a driver of sustainable development and social cohesion
AFD finances the construction and rehabilitation of community sports infrastructure to expand access to sports for all, particularly for underserved populations. By creating sports facilities in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and schools, these projects become drivers of social inclusion, education, and youth empowerment.
For example, as part of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, AFD provided an €80 million loan to the Senegalese government. The project aims both to rehabilitate sports infrastructure and to address the long-term sustainability and legacy of the event through training and capacity building for Senegalese sports stakeholders.
According to the OECD, the sports sector currently accounts for around 2% of global GDP, generating significant economic activity and employment. With annual growth estimated at 5.9%, the sector is expanding faster than the global economy. However, sports stakeholders continue to face several challenges, particularly limited access to training.
In response, AFD supports the professionalization of the sports sector and helps stakeholders implement inclusive sports practices while strengthening project management and governance capacities. One example is the Pass’Sport program, implemented and developed by AFD Campus, Sport Impact, Trace Academia, and the Foundation of Paris Nanterre University. Sharing sports expertise between French and local stakeholders is central to this approach, helping build a sustainable and dynamic sports ecosystem.
As part of its partnership with Paris 2024, AFD financed an incubation program for athlete entrepreneurs, supporting 83 athletes in developing entrepreneurial projects with strong social and environmental impact in France and Africa. In 2022, AFD also signed a partnership agreement with Rugby Africa to strengthen the capacities of African rugby federations in nine countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia – with support from the French Rugby Federation (FFR).
AFD supports the design and implementation of public policies that promote sports participation and school sports programs.
Through €7 million in financing, AFD is supporting the Tunisian government in strengthening sports participation in schools and improving learning outcomes through sport. This pilot project includes the creation of Olympic clubs in around 100 schools to help develop students’ athletic, educational, and personal skills. It also includes the renovation of the Pierre de Coubertin sports high school, which trains future high-level athletes, with the aim of making it a benchmark institution for school sports policy. The project fully integrates gender equality, inclusion – particularly for persons with disabilities – and child protection considerations.
AFD has created a new space for mobilization and partnerships by building collaborations with internationally recognized sports organizations – including FIFA, the NBA, the Basketball Africa League (BAL), Paris 2024, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and HAVOBA – as well as with French sports federations and athletes committed to development initiatives, with 105 athletes supported to date. These partnerships aim to promote a shared vision of “sport and development” by bringing more sport into development efforts, and more development goals into sport.
AFD also contributed to the creation of the Sport en Commun collaborative platform, which connects funding providers and project leaders and now brings together 3,000 registered organizations across 52 countries.
Finally, through the Finance in Common Summit (FiCS), AFD helped launch the “Sustainable Development Through Sport” coalition, which encourages public development banks worldwide to work together to increase investment in the sector..
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Key figures
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492 million euros invested in the sport and development sector since 2018
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400 projects funded since 2018
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10 million young people reached through our programs since 2018
News & events
Africa Forward: AFD Group and its partners announce new initiatives for sustainable growth in Africa
Published on May 11, 2026