What If The African Games Never Happened?

The Actual History

The African Games (formerly known as the All-Africa Games) emerged during a pivotal era of African independence movements and Pan-Africanism. The concept of a continent-wide sports competition was first proposed in the early 1920s when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) considered organizing regional games across the globe. However, colonial control over most African territories prevented this vision from materializing for decades.

The true genesis of the African Games occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, coinciding with the wave of independence sweeping across the continent. In 1962, at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Moscow, delegates from newly independent African nations, particularly Ghana under President Kwame Nkrumah, strongly advocated for the establishment of a Pan-African sporting event. Nkrumah, a leading proponent of Pan-Africanism, envisioned the games as more than athletic competition—they would serve as a platform for continental unity, cultural celebration, and international recognition of African sovereignty.

The inaugural African Games finally took place in July 1965 in Brazzaville, Congo, with 2,500 athletes from 30 nations competing in ten sports. Despite limited resources and infrastructure, the event was considered a diplomatic and cultural triumph. The Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA), established in 1966, subsequently took responsibility for organizing the games.

Throughout their history, the African Games faced numerous challenges that threatened their continuation. Political instability in host countries caused several postponements. The games scheduled for 1969 in Bamako, Mali, were canceled, and the second edition wasn't held until 1973 in Lagos, Nigeria. Similarly, political and economic difficulties forced postponements of subsequent editions.

The competition evolved significantly over decades. From the initial ten sports in 1965, the program expanded to include over 20 disciplines by the 2019 edition. Participation grew from 30 countries to all 54 African nations, and athlete numbers increased from 2,500 to over 5,000. In 2012, organization of the Games transferred from the SCSA to the African Union, with support from the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA).

The African Games have served multiple functions beyond sport. They've been a proving ground for African athletes before competing on the world stage, a celebration of African cultural identity, and a demonstration of host nations' organizational capabilities. The Games have boosted sports infrastructure across the continent, with host cities constructing or renovating stadiums, swimming pools, and athlete accommodations that leave lasting legacies.

The competition has also elevated the profiles of African sports that receive less global attention, such as traditional wrestling forms. It has created continental heroes and rivalries that transcend national boundaries, contributing to a sense of shared African identity.

Through political turbulence, economic challenges, and organizational difficulties, the African Games have persisted as a symbol of continental cooperation and athletic excellence. The most recent edition, the 12th African Games, was held in Rabat, Morocco in 2019, featuring over 5,000 athletes. The 13th edition was initially scheduled for 2023 in Ghana but faced postponements, reflecting the ongoing challenges that have characterized the Games throughout their history.

The Point of Divergence

What if the African Games never happened? In this alternate timeline, we explore a scenario where the continental multi-sport event that has shaped African athletics for over five decades was never established.

The most plausible point of divergence occurs in 1962 at the crucial International Olympic Committee meeting in Moscow. In our timeline, African delegates, particularly those representing Ghana under President Kwame Nkrumah, successfully advocated for a continent-wide sporting competition. However, several alternative scenarios could have derailed this initiative:

First, Kwame Nkrumah, the primary champion of the African Games concept, might have faced greater domestic political opposition to international sporting initiatives. Ghana's economic struggles in the early 1960s provided ample ammunition for critics who viewed sports diplomacy as an unnecessary expense. In this alternate timeline, Nkrumah might have been forced to abandon the proposal in favor of more immediate domestic concerns.

Second, the IOC itself could have taken a different position. The committee, still dominated by European and Western interests in the 1960s, might have been reluctant to support a distinctly Pan-African event that could potentially compete with Olympic prestige. In this scenario, the IOC could have suggested that African nations focus exclusively on preparing athletes for the Olympics rather than creating a separate continental competition.

Third, the fractious politics of post-colonial Africa might have prevented consensus. While Pan-Africanism was a powerful ideological force, practical cooperation between newly independent states proved challenging. In our timeline, these differences were temporarily set aside; in an alternate reality, ideological divisions between socialist-aligned and Western-aligned African states could have made agreement on a unified sporting event impossible.

Fourth, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), which volunteered to host the inaugural games, might have withdrawn its offer due to financial constraints or political instability. Without a willing inaugural host with the backing of France (its former colonial power providing technical assistance), the momentum behind the Games could have dissipated.

In this alternate timeline, the combination of these factors prevents the 1965 inaugural African Games in Brazzaville from materializing. Without this founding event, the institutional framework that would have supported future editions—particularly the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa established in 1966—never comes into existence. The absence of the African Games creates a vacuum in the continent's sporting landscape with far-reaching consequences for athletic development, national identity, and Pan-African cooperation.

Immediate Aftermath

Fragmentary Regional Competitions

In the absence of a continent-wide sporting event, regional competitions would have likely filled the void in the years immediately following 1965. The existing East African Community Games and West African Games would have gained greater prominence. By 1967, North African nations, primarily Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, might have established their own Mediterranean-focused competition, potentially seeking closer sporting ties with Southern European nations than with Sub-Saharan Africa.

This regionalization would have reinforced colonial-era divisions rather than fostering Pan-African identity. French-speaking West African nations might have created Francophone competitions with links to France, while English-speaking East and Southern African countries would have developed separate sporting networks. These regional competitions would have lacked the prestige, resources, and media attention that a united African Games could command.

Olympic Participation Challenges

The African Games served as an important qualifying event for the Olympics and a critical development pathway for athletes. Without this platform, African Olympic committees would have struggled to identify and prepare continental talent for international competition. The 1968 Mexico City Olympics would have likely seen significantly reduced African participation compared to our timeline.

This decline would have been particularly pronounced in athletics (track and field), swimming, and team sports like basketball and volleyball, where the African Games provided crucial competitive experience. Nations with fewer resources for sports development—particularly newly independent states in Central Africa—would have been disproportionately affected, potentially failing to send athletes to the Olympics altogether.

The boycott of the 1976 Montreal Olympics by African nations (protesting New Zealand's sporting ties with apartheid South Africa) might have been less coordinated or impactful without the organizational relationships developed through the African Games. The absence of a unified sporting body would have complicated continent-wide diplomatic actions through sports.

Stunted Sports Infrastructure Development

Host cities of the African Games were motivated to develop sporting facilities and transportation infrastructure. Brazzaville (1965), Lagos (1973), and subsequent hosts invested significantly in constructing or renovating stadiums, swimming pools, and athlete accommodations. Without these tournaments, this development impetus would have been absent.

By the early 1970s, the infrastructure gap between African sporting facilities and those in Europe, Asia, and the Americas would have widened considerably. This deficit would have created a vicious cycle—without adequate facilities, African countries couldn't host international competitions; without hosting opportunities, there would be little motivation to invest in sports infrastructure.

Political Ramifications and Pan-Africanism

The cancellation of the African Games would have represented a significant setback for the Pan-African movement championed by Kwame Nkrumah and other independence leaders. The Games were intended as a physical manifestation of African unity and capability on the world stage. Their absence would have deprived the continent of a powerful symbol of cooperation.

The Organization of African Unity (OAU), formed in 1963, would have lost a valuable tool for cultural diplomacy and nation-building. By 1970, this might have contributed to greater fragmentation in African international relations, with countries increasingly pursuing bilateral relationships with former colonial powers rather than continental cooperation.

For athletes, the impact would have been immediate and personal. Sporting heroes who emerged from the African Games in our timeline—like Kenyan runners Kipchoge Keino and Naftali Temu, who used the 1965 Games as a springboard to international success—might have remained unknown without this showcase for their talents. National sports federations would have struggled to identify and nurture talent, particularly in less-resourced countries.

Media Representation and Cultural Impact

The African Games provided international media with an opportunity to cover African sports positively, contrasting with often negative political coverage. Without the Games, African athletes would have received significantly less media attention during this period. By the early 1970s, this would have reinforced international perceptions of Africa as a continent of political turmoil rather than athletic achievement.

Culturally, the opening and closing ceremonies of the African Games celebrated continental diversity and artistic expression. The absence of these showcases would have limited opportunities for cultural exchange between African nations during a formative period of post-colonial identity formation. Traditional sports that received exposure through the African Games—various wrestling forms, canoe racing, and indigenous martial arts—would have continued their decline without this continental platform for recognition.

Long-term Impact

Alternative Development of African Athletics

By the 1980s, the absence of the African Games would have created dramatically different athletic development paths across the continent. Without a prestigious continental competition serving as both goal and development pathway, African sports federations would have likely pursued more divergent strategies.

Elite Nation Specialization

A small group of relatively wealthy African nations—Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa (after apartheid)—would have increasingly dominated the continent's sports landscape by concentrating resources on Olympic-focused development. These countries might have achieved similar or even greater Olympic success than in our timeline through specialized focus, but the continental athletic picture would have been deeply imbalanced.

Kenya, for instance, might have doubled down on its middle and long-distance running programs even earlier, potentially achieving greater Olympic dominance but at the expense of developing other sports. Nigeria might have focused exclusively on football, boxing, and athletics, neglecting the broader sports development that the African Games encouraged.

International Recruitment and Talent Drain

Without the exposure provided by the African Games, talented athletes from smaller nations would have had fewer opportunities to showcase their abilities while representing their home countries. This would have likely accelerated talent migration, with promising athletes seeking opportunities in Europe or North America at younger ages.

By the 1990s, this talent drain would have become systematic, with European sporting academies establishing stronger recruitment networks throughout Africa. Athletes who in our timeline proudly represented their nations might instead have changed sporting nationality to compete for European countries offering better training facilities and financial support.

Sports Geopolitics and International Representation

Olympic Committee Politics

The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), which worked closely with the African Games organizers in our timeline, would have wielded significantly less influence within the international Olympic movement. African representation on IOC committees would have likely been reduced, limiting the continent's voice in global sports governance.

By the 2000s, this reduced influence would have potentially affected Olympic host city selections, sports inclusion decisions, and resource allocation for developing nations' sports programs. The concept of rotating Olympic Games between continents might never have gained traction without a unified African sports voice advocating for hosting opportunities.

Continental Prestige Projects

The African Games served as a testing ground for nations aspiring to host larger international competitions. Morocco, which hosted the African Games successfully in 1978, used this experience in its later bids for the FIFA World Cup. Without the African Games providing this intermediate stepping stone, African nations would have found it even more difficult to convince international federations of their hosting capabilities.

The successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup by South Africa might have been jeopardized without the continental event experience gained through the African Games. International sporting bodies would have had fewer precedents of successful large-scale events in Africa, reinforcing reluctance to award major competitions to the continent.

Economic and Infrastructure Consequences

Sports Industry Development

A continental sporting event like the African Games creates significant economic activity—from sporting goods manufacturing to event management expertise. Without this catalyst, Africa's sports economy would have developed more slowly and unevenly. By the 2010s, the gap between Africa's sports industry and those of other continents would have been substantially wider than in our timeline.

Sports tourism, which benefited host cities of the African Games, would have remained underdeveloped. The hotel, transportation, and service infrastructure improvements that accompanied hosting duties would have had fewer drivers, further limiting economic development opportunities connected to sports.

Broadcasting and Media Evolution

The African Games provided a powerful impetus for developing sports broadcasting capabilities across the continent. Without this quadrennial event, pan-African sports networks would have emerged later and with more limited reach. SuperSport, the dominant sports broadcaster in Africa, might have focused even more exclusively on European football rather than developing capacity for covering diverse African sports.

By the digital media age of the 2000s, the absence of established continental sporting events would have meant fewer African sports stories circulating online, limiting the global visibility of African athletes outside of the Olympics and World Cup.

Cultural and Social Dimensions

National Identity Formation

Sports play a crucial role in nation-building, particularly for post-colonial states establishing new national identities. The African Games provided a forum for expressing these identities through peaceful competition. Without this outlet, nationalist expressions might have taken more polarizing forms.

Countries that experienced civil conflicts, such as Nigeria in the late 1960s and Rwanda in the 1990s, benefited from the unifying potential of sports in their recovery processes. The absence of the African Games would have eliminated an important mechanism for rebuilding national cohesion through shared sporting achievements.

Pan-African Identity and Youth Engagement

By the 2010s, the cumulative effect of five decades without the African Games would have significantly impacted how young Africans perceived continental identity. The camaraderie and mutual respect fostered through sports competition would have been replaced by more fragmented cultural exchanges.

Young athletes who might have dreamed of representing their countries at the African Games would instead have focused exclusively on escaping to European or American opportunities. This mentality would have reinforced perceptions of African competition as inferior, creating a psychological barrier to building prestigious continental events later.

Contemporary Landscape (2025)

By our present day in this alternate timeline, Africa's sporting landscape would be markedly different. Regional competitions would have grown in importance but remained limited in global significance. The continental athletic hierarchy would be more pronounced, with a few powerhouse nations dominating and smaller countries struggling for relevance.

International sports federations might have established more direct control over African qualifying tournaments for global competitions, further limiting African sports sovereignty. The movement for an African Games might have been revived in recent years, perhaps championed by a new generation of Pan-African leaders, but would be starting from scratch rather than building on six decades of history.

The absence of the African Games would represent not just a sporting loss but a missed opportunity for expressing African capabilities, unity, and excellence on a stage of the continent's own making.

Expert Opinions

Dr. Fiifi Anaman, Professor of Sports History at the University of Ghana, offers this perspective: "The non-existence of the African Games would have created a profound developmental vacuum in continental sports. These Games weren't merely competitions—they were crucibles that forged sporting systems, created heroes, and established standards. Without them, African sports would likely have developed along more colonial pathways, with athletes seeking validation primarily through European competitions rather than continental excellence. The psychological impact cannot be overstated; generations of African youth would have grown up without seeing their nations celebrated in a prestigious African-created sporting context."

Professor Amina Diop, Director of the Center for Sports Diplomacy at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, suggests a more complex view: "While the absence of the African Games would certainly have impeded continental sporting development, it might have accelerated international integration in unexpected ways. African sports federations might have forged stronger bilateral relationships with international governing bodies without the buffer of continental organizations. This could have resulted in earlier professionalization in certain sports, albeit at the cost of broader development. What's undeniable is that the political symbolism of the Games—as a demonstration of African self-determination in the immediate post-colonial era—could never have been replaced. Their absence would have reinforced the narrative that Africans could compete but not organize at the highest level."

Dr. Jonathan Mbiriyamveka, Sports Economist at the University of Cape Town, provides an economic analysis: "The African Games created a quadrennial cycle of infrastructure investment that, while imperfect, established crucial sporting facilities across the continent. Without this catalyst, I estimate that by 2025, Africa would have approximately 40% fewer international-standard sporting venues. The economic ecosystem surrounding African sports—from equipment manufacturing to event management—would be substantially underdeveloped. Most critically, the media rights and sponsorship markets for African sporting content would be dramatically smaller, perhaps by as much as 60-70% compared to our timeline. This economic underdevelopment would have reinforced dependence on European and American sporting models rather than fostering indigenous approaches to sports business."