I came across a news report that the Egyptian government was preparing a bid to host the 2036 Olympic games with Cairo as the forerunner city for the proposed bid. I found it interesting because as of today, no African country has hosted the Olympic games and the 2024, 2028, and 2032 Olympic hosts have already been decided in Paris, Los Angeles and Brisbane respectively.
Background
African countries are usually overlooked when it comes to hosting major global sporting events. In all fairness, it isn't entirely the fault of the deciding committees as most African countries do not even bother to bid for major events. While it might be the next frontier and fastest growing continent economically, the truth remains that the vast majority of countries in the continent are severely underdeveloped and her people still languish in poverty.
In the history of the summer Olympics, only two African countries have made bids to host the games. You probably can guess them without thinking as they are Africa's two most industrialized economies - South Africa and Egypt. The former made an unsuccessful bid to host the 2004 games which was later awarded to Athens, Greece. Egypt on the other hand has made three unsuccessful bids in the past, with intentions to host the 1916, 1936 and 2008 games not accepted.
Though still fraught with infrastructural and other challenges, the clamor to award the games to an African country has never been loudest. Many are of the opinion that Africa 'isn't ready' to host the games but I take strong exception to that. South Africa did manage to host the second biggest sporting event in the World, the 2010 FIFA World cup quite successfully. It should also be noted that the bidding process to host the World cup was open to only African countries in 2004.
Hosting such a major Global event is no mean feat though, and there are quite a lot of things to consider before making a bid. The economics for one is something that makes African countries unattractive and uncompetitive against their rich mostly Western or Asian bidding competitors. There are also other considerations that make the politics of selection quite complex, which puts African countries at a disadvantage.
Why Egypt?
If there is one African country who can pull it off though, I believe it is Egypt. As a nation, they have one of the richest Histories in Africa and certainly the most popular. Everyone has heard about the Pharaohs and the pyramids, so it won't be that much of a difficult sell as far as marketing goes. Egypt has good infrastructure too when compared with many other African nations and they are perhaps second only to South Africa in terms of industrialization. Their population of more than 80 million people will also be an added advantage, giving a prime marketing base to partner brands willing to sponsor the event.
Challenges
The first and biggest challenge for Egypt and any other African country to host the games is the huge financial implications it poses. Hosting the Olympics isn't cheap. The last games in Tokyo cost an estimated $13 Billion, almost double what was estimated. The Egyptian budget for the year 2022 is $111 Billion. If we go by that figure, then Egypt will be spending more than 10% of its budget just to host the games. Considering the likely new infrastructure that will need to be built, it is going to be a herculean task.
There are also concerns bordering on security, as the country has not been completely spared from the hands of Islamic extremists. These issues will need to be confronted to give people the confidence that a successful games can be hosted.
Conclusion
Of course if they do manage to pull it off, I have no doubt it will be a net positive from a cultural, historical and economic perspective. Realistically though, the best chance of this happening is by zoning the rights for the 2036 games to Africa.
I would not be happy if I was Egyptian as the people pay for this event decades after it has finished. To be fair how many countries would be queueing up to host it knowing their economy is in tatters? I think many countries putting forward a proposal would have a huge outcry as it wouldn't be that popular. Lets hope Egypt gets it and there are no other bidders.
It would certainly cost them a fortune, but I am of the opinion that it would be beneficial to them in the long term
That's a good point around the costs in fairness, but the long term benefits to the countries infrastructure and tourism boost may well offset a lot of that investment.
Interesting article, thank you.
What is your opinion about the Olympics in general?
Personally, I don't believe in the concept. It's a scheme of gaining on the account of the athletes. So called Olympic ideals are a fairytale.
Besides, IOC should be extremely happy to get even one bid for any occasion. I believe that they are cruising the world and begging rich countries to put up their bids.
@tipu curate
Hi Ervin,
I can understand where the criticism comes from and I share similar sentiments but I don't think it is a total waste. Athletes still look forward to it and representing their countries still remains a thing of pride.
I believe it has become way too monetized but then again so has every other sport.
True. I exaggerate intentionally 😀
Have a great week.
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This would be great and in this day and age, It is pretty disappointing that no African country has held an Olympic games yet, hopefully Egypt are successful in their bid.
I hope so. I find that there's a lot of politics that goes into things like these, and most times money does most of the talking
It will be great to have an African country host such a big event. The last big event we had was the worldcup South Africa hosted.
It won't be a bad idea for Egypt to host the Olympics games in 2036 if they are given the opportunity I am sure they will succeed.
Best of luck if you think it's what is best for the country. I know you guys fell short with the World Cup that went to South Africa in 2010. Brisbane in Australia is holding the 2032 Olympics which was somewhat of a surprise to me. Not surprising as I'm from Sydney and Brisbane are somewhat rivals to us.
What it shows though are that less "traditional" cities are starting to earn World Cup hosting rights.
They actually did great when they hosted the African Cup of Nations so it should work out fine. Sadly, I am pretty sure people will suddenly be angry on behalf of everyone in Egypt because of "unfair this" and "unfair that" as if any other nation didn't have problems.
It is worth noting that these things aren't paid for the way everyone seems to think they do. It is not the government taking out money from pocket and giving it to construction companies. Most of these are done through deals and sponsorships as well as future plans. Brazil's horrible planning for the World Cup really shed bad light and made the number breakdown more simplified.
Basically what I am saying is that venues created later find other uses so. There are also indirect benefits. Many people thought Russia was this dead, snow place until the WC or South Africa as the stereotypical backward place. The benefits don't come directly or quickly but stable and everlasting. I would even argue that developed nations are the ones that don't benefit much.