The 11th African Games (French: 11es Jeux africains), also known as Brazzaville 2015, took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.[2] This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965.
Host awarding
Ghana,[3]Kenya[4] and Congo all showed interest in bidding for the 11th edition of the Games. On September 14, 2011, the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa awarded the rights to Brazzaville to host.[5]
Name change
In January 2012 during the Executive Council meeting of the African Union held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was taken a decision for the name change from All-Africa Games to African Games. The 11th edition of Brazzaville 2015 started under this new name.[6]
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was held on 4 September 2015 at the newly built Kintele Stadium. Congolese national anthem started the ceremony, performed by Abel Mona.[7] Parade of nations then started with Mozambique entering first as the previous host in 2011 and Republic of Congo came out last as the current host. In the artistic sequence, performers dressed with the colors of Congolese flag formed the word bienvenue (welcome) and followed by various dances and the lighting of the torch.
All countries participating in the 2015 All-Africa Games in green. Host country (Republic of the Congo) in red.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic were to take part in the games for the first time. However, because the country was not yet affiliated with the international federations of the sports that it had intended to attend, the Congolese organising committee determined its athletes could not participate.[8][9]Morocco protested the decision by pulling out of the Games.
22 separate sports have been announced for the 2015 African Games (2 demonstration), and two additional disability sports (Athletics and Weightlifting):[17]
Venues used in these Games mostly located in the new Kintele Sport Complex in the northern part of Brazzaville[19] and the existing Alphonse Massemba-Débat Sport Complex. The list below shows venues used in these Games.[20][21][22][23]
