Newspress

At the opening ceremony

The first press conference of the 9th Games of La Francophonie - Kinshasa 2023 took place at the headquarters of the OIF, the international organisation of La Francophonie, in Paris, on 25 April 2023, after an introduction by its administrator, Caroline Saint Hilaire, in a packed room and by videoconference, 100 days before the opening ceremony.

AN EXCEPTIONAL INTERNATIONAL EVENT WITH A DUAL SPORTING AND CULTURAL VOCATION AND IN PERPETUAL MOTION

This international sporting event, whose particularity is to combine sporting competitions with cultural competitions and which takes place every 4 years in an OIF member state, will welcome this year nearly 3,500 athletes and artists in 21 disciplines from some forty States and governments: a scale comparable in terms of the number of participants (3,000) and disciplines (22) to the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in Korea. And an organisation identical to that of the Olympic Games with an international committee (CIJF) in Paris and a national committee (CNJF) in the host country.

The Kinshasa Games," emphasised Mina ZEINA, former Lebanese competitor at the Los Angeles Olympic Games and director of the International Committee in Paris, "are being revamped with, in particular, communication geared towards social networks and the introduction of new disciplines. Among the sports competitions - nine in number, including athletics, cycling, judo, wrestling and table tennis - a collective African discipline, Nzango, made up of gymnastics, dance and song, which is very present in the two countries bordering the Congo River, will make its appearance alongside the other collective sports: football and women's basketball, which are eagerly awaited at each edition of the Francophone Games.
The artists, for their part, will confront their talents in the field of fine arts, literature as well as in competitions rooted in popular French-speaking traditions such as storytelling, giant puppets, juggling and will rub shoulders with hip hop and digital creation, fields in which the Francophone Games have been pioneers.

GAMES THAT HIGHLIGHT THE HOST COUNTRY

For Kinshasa, the most important capital of the Francophonie and the most populous country, the Games of the Francophonie represent a plurality of challenges and opportunities, as Isidore KWANDJA NGEMBO, a university professor and public policy expert, reminds us. The director of the National Committee of the Games cites infrastructure, security, catering, accommodation, ticketing, and the technical approval of sports equipment: projects that are being carried out at an accelerated pace, in consultation with the teams in Paris and international experts, a few months before the opening of the Games.

For the DRC, the Games of La Francophonie are an accelerator of possibilities in each of these areas, particularly in the area of equipment and infrastructure, with new basketball and judo halls and the redevelopment of stadiums and the university campus that will house the village, all of which are "a legacy for the youth of the DRC", according to Isidore KWANDJA NGEMBO. Similarly, in the field of sports infrastructure homologation under the aegis of international federations, Kinshasa is making a qualitative leap. Thus, Michel HUET, technical director of the International Judo Federation, who brought his expertise to the Congolese federation for the setting up of the big Judo hall to the standards of big competitions, reminded that the Francophone Games are also a springboard for young sportsmen, as expressed by Pascale STOCKLIN from Switerland The Games provide a breeding ground for talent in high-level Francophone sport.

GAMES THAT ANNOUNCE AND CONFIRM TALENT

To illustrate the projection of careers and the values of the Francophonie, the International Committee invited Diandra TCHATCHOUANG and Sarah HANFFOU, both ambassadors of the Kinshasa Games. The former, an international basketball player, several times French and European champion and Olympic bronze medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Games, spoke about her career and her attachment to her country of origin, Cameroon, and to France, where she made her life and career. Today, Diandra TCHATCHOUANG, who studied political science at the University of Maryland, is the head of the "Take your shot" foundation, which promotes women's basketball in priority education zones.

After having participated in the Games of the Francophonie in turn under the colours of France, in Niamey in 2005, and those of Cameroon, in Beirut in 2009, Sarah HANFFOU, international table tennis player, has notably won a gold medal at the African championships and participated in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Sarah HANFFOU, who would like to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics, is now a lawyer specialising in public law and health law and runs "Ping sans frontières", an association dedicated to the promotion of table tennis, having carried out various missions in Africa and Asia.

Echoing these testimonies, several artists selected for the Kinshasa Games spoke by videoconference to express their expectations. Thus, Mia KELLY, representing Quebec in the song contest, who aspires to live the particular atmosphere of the Games, will participate for the first time in an international contest outside North America, and Tessilim ADJAYI, a Togolese photographer who focuses on African identity and violence against women, will be present.
To bridge the gap between the two, Mina ZEINA, underlined the responsible approach of the International Committee of the Francophonie Games, which supports the winners in the next stage of their career, in particular by putting them in touch with sports and cultural players. Nearly 80% of them received support from the IOF.

THE KINSHASA GAMES MORE OPEN AND ACCESSIBLE

Together, the two Games committees wanted to make the Kinshasa Games more accessible, first of all to young people through "all-out" digital communication with mini summaries and testimonies as close as possible to the players, at the heart of the event, in the village and behind the scenes - 20 to 30 per day. They will be produced for all the platforms by teams scattered around the competition sites, thus corresponding to the new forms of information consumption. Visitors to the Games will be exempt from airport taxes, benefiting from a "go pass" and a simplified visa procedure. On site, professionals in the Congolese capital will benefit from an awareness campaign to welcome tourists, a programme that proved successful during the Abidjan Games in 2017.
At the end of the press conference, Nathalie HENEMAN, in charge of partnerships and communication, recalled the commitment of audiovisual media such as TV5 Monde, France 24, RFI, Africa 24 which, on the occasion of the Kinshasa Games, is launching its sports channel with Canal +, as well as that of broadcasters from many countries in the North and South. All television platforms and channels will benefit from an international signal with commentary, ready to use, live or in the form of summaries, representing 60 hours of programmes over the entire event in order to contribute to the influence of the Games.

This is the meaning of the video message from Lilian Thuram, former world champion 1998 and Ambassador of the Kinshasa Games, who, describing the Games as a "dream", invited everyone, young people and supporters on site and on social networks, to support the athletes and artists from all countries and to be present at this unique moment.

"Be with us from 28 July to 6 August"

Photo Lilian Thuram at the Universty of Kinshasa