The 2023 African Para Games were the first edition of the African Para Games held between 3 and 12 September 2023 in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Preparations

In January 2022, president of the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

Andrew Parsons visited Ghana in support of the 2023 African Para Games which were also to be held in Accra.

Venues

Amputee football and wheelchair tennis was hosted at the

Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra, Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium w ...

and wheelchair basketball was hosted at Eden Hights. Para athletics was expected to have taken place at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

stadium, however this facility was not completed in time to host the event and the sport was dropped from the programme.

Branding

Logo and motto

The logo and motto for the games, ''Para Sports Inspire a Better Africa'', was revealed in November 2022. The games support the IPC ''#WalkInMyShoe'' initiative which aims to "break the stigma attached to Para sports" in African nations.

Mascot

The mascot of the games was an anthropomorphised

cocoa bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao tree ...

, wearing a multicoloured

Leotard A leotard () is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and l ...

who used a prosthetic leg. The mascot was widely mocked on social media for resembling the children's nursery rhyme character

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle, and is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from ...

, or the brand mascot of "Nkatie Burger" peanuts or a "Killer Bean".

Participating nations

Initially 36 nations were expected to compete, however, following a series of withdrawals, only 18 actually competed at the games:

Sports

Initially seven sports were scheduled to be included in the programme. However due to the failure to meet minimum requirements set by the IPC, only the following three competitions actually took place:

Results

Source:

Wheelchair Tennis

# MS:,, # MD:,, # WS:,, # WD:,,

Men

Singles (RSA) Alwande Sikhosana (RSA) Leon Els (MAR) Lhai Boukartacha Doubles (RSA) Alwande Sikhosana, Leon Els (MAR) Lhai Bokartacha, Said Himam (EGY) Emad Hassan Salah, Add Elrahman

Women

Singles (MAR) Najwa Awane (MAR) Samira Benichi (NGR) Omisore Kafayat Doubles (MAR) Najwa Awane Samira Benichi (KEN) Phoebe Masika Jane Ndenga (NGR) Kafayat Omisore Foluke Habibat Smittu

Wheelchair Basketball

Men (12):,, Women (8):,,

Amputee Football

Men (8): ,, Link

Medals table

The medals awarded were as follows:

Concerns and criticisms

Planning and implementation

Initially seven sports were planned to be included in the schedule; amputee football, goalball, para athletics, para powerlifting, sitting volleyball wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. However, following failures by the local organising committee to meet the "minimum required standards" set by the

, para Athletics, para Powerlifting and goalball were dropped from the programme in July 2023. Sitting volleyball was also subsequently dropped, resulting on only three sports being included in the programme. Para athletics was expected to have taken place at the University of Ghana stadium, however this facility was not completed in time to host the event.

National withdrawals

Initially 36 nations were expected to compete. However several nations withdrew in the lead up to the games resulting in only 18 competing.

Anti-LGBT+ legislation

The Ghanaian parliament is currently considering the anti-LGBT+ bill which seeks to ban the advocation of same-sex relationships and transgender rights. These bill is passed into law carrying the threat of prison sentences of up to ten years for advocating for better rights for LGBT+ people and five years for identifying as LGBT+. The anti-LGBT+ bill have been condemned by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the vice-president of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

References

External links

2023 African Para GamesNational Paralympic Committee of Ghana
on X {{Events at the 2023 African Para Games African Para Games 2023 in disability sport 2023 in African sport Multi-sport events in Ghana 2023 in Ghanaian sport Para Games African Para Games Sports competitions in Accra