University of Ghana vice chancellor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo has spoken of her delight at progress of the work to get facilities ready for the African Games ©LinkedIn

University of Ghana vice chancellor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo has said that she expects to meet the criteria to stage international competition before the end of 2023 in preparation for next year's delayed African Games.

Work is continuing at the university to renovate facilities for the Games that are due to be held in March next year.

Athletics and rugby sevens are expected to be hosted at the university which is also set to house athletes during the Games.

An inspection of the University of Ghana Stadium, Athletes' Village, Diaspora Halls and warm-up pitches was recently conducted by the Accra 2023 Organising Committee.

Ghana's Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif visited the site along with Accra 2023 chair Kwaku Ofosu Asare and Amfo.

The Games had been scheduled to be held from August this year only to be postponed to March 8 to 23 due to economic pressures and delays in preparations.

Work on the Athletes' Village had faced complications due to the University of Ghana's academic calendar with the continuous presence of students at the Diaspora Halls making it difficult for refurbishment to progress at the required pace.

Speaking to Univers Sports, Amfo insisted that work was on track for the African Games.


"It’s important that we did this tour at some point," said Amfo.

"UG [University of Ghana] is the key partner organising these Games.

"I was concerned that this wasn’t going to happen and it had implications for us also with regards to setting and readjusting our academic calendar but I have been quite impressed with what I have seen this morning.

"I see that work is progressing steadily and I believe that when we keep up at this pace by October-November we should be able to get all the international certifications that we need to get and then what will rarely be left will be aesthetics."

Amfo stressed that she wanted to ensure that the facilities were kept in good condition by the students before the Games.

"We are concerned with regards to refurbishment going on within the student hostels and for the students, in the meantime keep these facilities as they are expected to be kept before the start of the Games," added Amfo.

"We have already planned meetings with the various hall tutors and I have just indicated that we should include the student leaders so that we directly interact with them, so we ensure that the facility is being put in place and they are kept very well before, during and after the Games."