\n
The 13th African Games are in full swing in Ghana, but the high cost of hosting the event amid a time of economic turmoil has brought scrutiny.<\/b><\/p>\n
An outlay of almost $250m (\u00a3195.2m) has been committed on the multi-sport event, with government opposition declaring it a “misplaced priority” for a nation which is heavily indebted, enduring high rates of inflation and suffering the effects of the regional cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n
“I really don’t think we have our priorities right as a nation,” opposition MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n
“We have been declared insolvent, bankrupt and downgraded by all sovereign rating agencies, with a junk status.<\/p>\n
“This government has a penchant for big spending [on] things that really are not [a] priority.”<\/p>\n
However, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo says the legacy of hosting the Games will far outlive the economic troubles the country is experiencing.<\/p>\n
“It has taken a lot of courage to persist with the decision to host the Games and I’m glad we went ahead,” President Akufo-Addo said during the opening ceremony in Accra last Friday.<\/p>\n
“We can be proud of the massive sporting infrastructure we have put in place for the Games, which would be a huge legacy for our country.”<\/p>\n
The Games were originally scheduled to take place in August last year but were rescheduled to this month because of a disagreement over marketing rights which delayed the completion of facilities.<\/p>\n
Yet the event, which features more than 5,000 athletes and officials from across the continent competing in 29 disciplines, did not get off to the most auspicious start.<\/p>\n
There were four power outages with the first three days of competition, including during Ghana’s opening game of the women’s football event against Ethiopia at the Cape Coast Stadium and a blackout at the athletes’ village.<\/p>\n
The first beach volleyball match was delayed by 35 minutes as no nets had been installed, and it was reported that Ghana’s cycling team had to buy new bikes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 13th African Games are in full swing in Ghana, but the high cost of hosting the event amid a time of economic turmoil has brought scrutiny. An outlay of almost $250m (\u00a3195.2m) has been committed on the multi-sport event, with government opposition declaring it a “misplaced priority” for a nation which is heavily indebted, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n
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