A Championship Built on Partnership and Intention
The Championships were hosted by the Confederation of African Rowing (FASA) with the institutional support of the Ministry of Sport of Benin and the Benin National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSB). The technical and developmental backbone came from two global pillars: Olympic Solidarity and the World Rowing Development Programme (WRDP).
The youth core of the event was aligned to the Olympic Solidarity-supported Youth Athlete Development Grant – supporting two U17 athletes and one coach from eligible federations with full-board accommodation and local transfers. This strategy was neither symbolic nor incidental: it deliberately positions West Africa to build towards Dakar 2026, the first Youth Olympic Games on African soil, with athletes already exposed to continental competition standards.
A limited second WRDP grant supported selected athletes outside the U17 category with accommodation and local transport, reinforcing that widening participation must accompany the pursuit of elite outcome
Development in Action – Not in Theory
The event embedded structured training into the championship week. Beach Sprint coaching support ran parallel to the race programme, allowing emerging coaches and athletes to refine tactical and technical habits in real time.
The international technical team – Ines Hammami (World Rowing Umpiring Commission), and two African rowing development experts, Fayçal Soula and Olympic Champion Sizwe Lawrence Ndlovu – worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Beninese umpires and officials from Togo and Côte d’Ivoire.
“The level of collaboration and willingness to learn on site was exceptional – it speaks to a region that is not only competing, but preparing itself to host and to grow,” noted Technical Delegate Fayçal Soula, underscoring the dual legacy of competition and capacity transfer.
Sporting Outcomes: A Signal from Togo, and a Message for the Region
On the water, Togo emerged as the top-performing nation, a performance widely interpreted not as a surprise but as an early dividend of investment into structured coaching and athlete programmes. Their result was seen by observers as a signal to the region that method and planning are beginning to convert into medals.
Results: 2025 West Africa Rowing and Beach Sprint Championships – World Rowing
Yet the real message of the Championships was not medal-table hierarchy – it was evidence of regional acceleration. In a sport historically concentrated in a handful of African countries, the sight of five West African nations contesting a multi-category championship on home territory represents a structural shift in reach and access.
Why This Championship Matters – Beyond One Week
This event is significant for three strategic reasons:
- Decentralization is now real, not just an aspiration.
- The establishment of a preparatory runway into Dakar 2026.
- It proves West Africa can host an event with the potential for making such events habitual rather than exceptional.
A Regional Proof of Concept – and a Signal of Intent
What unfolded in Akodéha was more than a successful regatta; it was a governance and confidence milestone. It showed that when institutional commitment (Ministry + NOC), global support (OS + WRDP) and local delivery converge, the developmental payoff amplifies beyond medals. For West Africa, whose region will host the world next year at Africa’s first Youth Olympic Games, the timing and symbolism are powerful. The Championships confirmed that the region is not waiting for the world to arrive — it is already rehearsing, already organising, and already producing results
Looking Forward
Stakeholders left Benin with a shared conclusion: this cannot be a once-off. Regularity is now the ambition. If events of this kind recur with rhythm – annually, predictably, rotationally – the region will not merely participate in the global rowing landscape, it will begin to shape it.
World Rowing appreciates the support and collaboration of Olympic Solidarity, Benin’s Ministry of Sport, its national Rowing Federation and all collaborating partners
Photo credits: F. Soula and S. Ndlovu – World Rowing Experts
