Dear members of the great family of African athletics,
Dear Friends,
In a few hours, we will separate ourselves from the year 2022 which was the year of rebirth, unlike previous years marked by the pandemic which blocked our ambitions and made it difficult to implement many of our projects, both at the CAA and at the level of each of the member federations. Despite our best efforts, we had some particularly unpleasant moments in our experience within the sports movement.
But in 2022, we gradually resumed our activities in the most beautiful way, in particular with the African Championships in Mauritius, a successful edition from all points of view. On this occasion, we saw and showed to the whole world all the
resilience of African athletics and its capacity for solidarity and strength. The number of athletes present, the number of countries registered, the quality of the organization and the level of performance were the revealing clues. This is therefore an opportunity for me to thank, in my capacity as President of the CAA, the participants of course, but also and above all the highest authorities of Mauritius for having offered African youth a celebration that will forever impact the memory of all.
I would also like to use this opportunity to express my satisfaction to all the member federations for their tireless commitments alongside the CAA. It is thanks to these efforts that Africa has now achieved the best record in its history at the international level.
In 2022, three African countries for women and four for men are among the ten best countries in the world according to World Athletics reports. This does not sum up all the success of our activities, since we must add the excellent African record at the
U2O World Championships and the substantially increased statistics of the activities of our AADCs and other actions. Today, Africa has increasingly become an essential element in the development of athletics at the universal level.
This is therefore an appropriate time for me to express my thanks to World Athletics, through its President Lord Sebastien Coe, for the unconditional support it gives to our programmes. I would also like to congratulate the General Management of the CAA and all its components, for their tireless efforts and the quality of the work
carried out to make possible the implementation of our strategic development plan and the decisions of our General Assembly and our Council.
Our priority, more achievements and success
Dear members of the African athletics family, in a few hours we will be in 2023, rest assured that together with my colleagues on the CAA Council and Bureau, our priority will be to continue to do everything possible for more achievements and success.
During this year, from April 29th to May 3rd, we will hold, with the help of God, our African U18 and U20 championships in Lusaka, Zambia, a country which has always made efforts for the development of athletics under the impetus of the President of
the Republic, His Excellency Hakainde Hichilema, and his government. We have all noted the very strong latest results achieved by Zambian Athletics and are sure the best is yet to come.
Dear members of the African athletics family, I am relying on you to make this Zambian meeting a great success through your efforts to participate in it all and to qualify a large number of athletes, thus giving the possibility to very many young Africans to express their talent and find themselves in a spirit of communion on African soil, in the heart of the continent.
Let us keep hope in the future and join forces so that we can quickly build an even more successful African athletics on solid foundations. It starts with the interest that everyone will give to the next generations. Lusaka gives us the opportunity to express this interest that drives us all.
2023 is also the year of the World Championships and once again, I remain convinced that our results will be further consolidated and even better in more than one event thanks to everyone's efforts.
I would therefore like to wish you all a Happy New Year, while addressing my wishes for health, happiness and prosperity, to yourself and to your beloved ones, with the hope of meet you again very soon to celebrate, once again, the successes of our athletics.