Sport en Commun 2.0: a renewed platform to accelerate financing for sport for development in Africa

The Sport en Commun platform is entering a new phase with the launch of Sport en Commun 2.0, a redesigned platform aimed at strengthening networking, visibility, support and financing for sport-for-development stakeholders in Africa.

Announced in 2018 by Presidents Emmanuel Macron and George Weah at the Élysée Palace, and officially launched in 2020 under the leadership of the Agence Française de Développement and the coordination of Sport Impact, Sport en Commun has established itself as a structuring tool to support high-impact sport initiatives across the African continent.

Since its launch, the platform has brought together nearly 3,000 members in more than 50 countries and has contributed to mobilising or relaying more than €8 million for sport projects in Africa. More than one hundred projects have already benefited from financial, technical or partnership support, notably through fully digital calls for projects, the mobilisation of experts, the promotion of high-impact initiatives and targeted connections with funding partners.

A strategic evolution serving Africa’s sport-for-impact ecosystem
In a context marked by evolving needs among project holders, a contraction in public funding and the growing role of new private-sector actors, Sport en Commun 2.0 responds to a dual challenge: facilitating access to opportunities for project holders, while providing funders with a more integrated digital tool to identify, support and monitor high-impact projects.

Designed on the basis of user feedback and needs expressed by the ecosystem, this new version aims to improve the user experience, strengthen the services available to project holders and further open the platform to new partners, including private-sector organisations.

Sport en Commun 2.0 therefore marks the transition from a networking platform to a genuine digital ecosystem infrastructure, serving collaboration, financing and the scaling-up of initiatives deployed across the continent.

A more intuitive, comprehensive and operational platform

Version 2.0 introduces several innovations designed to improve the day-to-day use of the platform by project holders, partners and funders:

• A more intuitive, fluid and accessible interface;
• A single gateway for opportunities, centralising calls for projects, funding programmes and support schemes;
• A personalised space, designed as a “locker room”, enabling users to structure their projects, apply for opportunities and monitor their indicators;
• Training resources, including tutorials, MOOCs and practical tools;
• Strengthened networking and collaboration features connecting project holders, experts, partners and funders;
• The progressive integration of artificial intelligence to improve matching between projects and funders, data analysis and the monitoring of generated impact

These new features are designed to better support projects, improve their visibility and facilitate access to opportunities suited to their level of maturity.

A launch alongside the Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi

The launch of Sport en Commun 2.0 is taking place alongside the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, a strategic gathering focused on relations between African countries and France, during which a session on “sport for sustainable investment” was organised in the presence of the Heads of State of Kenya, Botswana, Senegal and France.

This positioning gives the platform high-level visibility and confirms its ambition to contribute to the scaling-up of sport for development. Sport en Commun 2.0 is intended to be a concrete, immediately operational tool serving project holders, funders, sport institutions, and private and international partners committed to supporting African youth.

A call for applications to mark the launch

To mark this launch, Sport en Commun 2.0 is also opening a pan-African call for applications aimed at African organisations implementing high-impact sport projects. The call aims to select three organisations, which will benefit from support structured around the four pillars of the platform: connect, promote, support and finance.

The selected organisations will gain access to a 360-degree support package, including international visibility, strategic support, high-level networking opportunities and privileged access to investors, donors and partners during the Dakar Summit – Sport for Development, organised alongside the forthcoming Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Applications are open until 10 June 2026 on the platform: www.sportencommun.org

About the Agence Française de Développement

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is France’s development finance institution. It supports projects with lasting social and environmental impact in more than 100 countries. AFD also supports the development of sport as a lever for inclusion, employment and social cohesion.

About Sport Impact

Sport Impact is a Senegalese organisation specialising in the structuring, coordination and promotion of sport projects in Africa. It designs and implements innovative programmes that use sport as a lever for sustainable development and supports African stakeholders in structuring high-impact projects in the fields of education, health, inclusion and the sport economy.

Press contact

Sport en Commun / Sport Impact
Email: contact@sportencommun.org