Africa-Press – Gambia. A new vision emerges in West Africa: to position sport as a cultural industry that drives local empowerment and social cohesion through collective brands rooted in regional heritage.
Professor Mamadou FALL presented this vision in his inaugural lecture delivered on Monday in Dakar at the first edition of the West African Arts and Culture Festival (ECOFEST 2025), framing sport as a cultural industry. The core idea is to structure sport as a genuine value chain that generates jobs. By developing strong community sports brands grounded in each area’s history and culture, Professor FALL believes it is possible to build a sustainable economic ecosystem encompassing media, events, derivative products, crafts, and cultural entrepreneurship.
The lecture, attended by Mr. Bakary SARR, Senegal’s Secretary of State for Culture, Creative Industries, and Historical Heritage; Professor Fatou Sow SARR, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs; and Mr. Mamadou Diakité, President of the UEMOA Commission, positions this model as a catalyst for youth emancipation and women’s advancement. It aims to bolster territorial identity and social cohesion through cross-border competitions, while serving as a foundation for sustainable tourism and regional development. For instance, the sports jersey evolves from simple apparel into a symbol of belonging and responsibility.
Concrete Initiatives to Realize This Vision
Several practical initiatives already demonstrate this potential. Projects such as “Sahel Hoops” for basketball and “West African Street Ball” for street football (freestyle and futsal) aim to establish circuits, festivals, and talent showcases, creating entrepreneurial opportunities for young people.
Other concepts tap into local landscapes: the “Atlantic Surf Collective” for beach sports and sports ecotourism, or “Sahel Trail” with endurance races and ultra-trails in the desert, blending athletic performance with athlete stories, potentially enhanced by artificial intelligence. Sport merges with performing arts through “The Griot Game,” an incubator for youth creativity via hybrid urban festivals. A dedicated brand, “Femmes du Sahel,” promotes women’s sports, combining performance, leadership, and cultural pride.
Community Centres at the Core
Community civic centres form the heart of this framework. They serve as operational hubs for the vision: innovation labs, training sites, certification centres for quality, ethics, and fair play, as well as documentation and mediation points for this emerging sports and cultural heritage.
These centres act as incubators where collective brands come to life, quality standards are set, and young people build skills, converting strong cultural identity into shared economic power.
Culture as a Path to a Fairer Future
Ultimately, this project addresses a critical question: what role should culture play amid West Africa’s political changes and crises? Professor FALL’s response is straightforward: root modernity in local traditions and leverage practical tools like collective brands to foster social cohesion and stronger local governance.
This positions culture as the most direct pathway to a just, insightful, and sustainable future for ECOWAS Member States.
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