It was announced that a new 50,000-capacity stadium would be built for the 2023 African Games as the Local Organising Committee were sworn in ©GOC

A new 50,000-capacity stadium is to be built for the 2023 African Games in Ghana, it has been announced.

A search has been launched to find a company to manage the $200 million (£152 million/ € 168 million) project at Borteyman in the Greater Accra Region.

"Presently, none of the sports stadia in Ghana meets the required standard for continental Games," Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo told Modern Ghana. 

"It is thus necessary to construct appropriate sports facilities in the country that will be able to host the 25 sporting disciplines from the African Games.

"I’m happy to that land has been secured to construct the necessary facilities for the Games and the procurement process to engage the contractor is ongoing.

"The facilities to be constructed include a 50,000 capacity Olympic Stadium complex, multi-purpose sports halls for all indoor sports, aquatic centres for swimming and tennis courts."

Akufo-Addo revealed that the plan is to turn the Stadium and complex into a sports university after the Games.

The announcement that the new facilities would be built for the event, the first time that the African Games have been staged in Ghana, coincided with the Organising Committee being officially sworn in by Akufo-Addo at a ceremony in Jubilee House, the Presidential Palace.

The Committee is being chaired by well-known Ghanaian broadcaster Kwaku Ofosu Asare.

Ghanaian broadcaster Kwaku Ofosu Asare has been chosen to chair the Ghana 2023 Organising Committee ©GOC
Ghanaian broadcaster Kwaku Ofosu Asare has been chosen to chair the Ghana 2023 Organising Committee ©GOC

Other members on the Committee include Ben Nunoo Mensah, President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, and Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah, an adviser to Isaac Kwame Asiamah, the country’s Minister of Youth and Sport.

Owusu-Ansah, a technical adviser to Ghana’s Ministry of Youth and Sport, will act as the chief operating officer.

Rex Brobby, a former sprinter who represented Ghana at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, will be deputy chief operating officer.

"We have very credible members and certainly deliver an outstanding event," Owusu-Ansah told the Ghanaian Times.

"The LOC (Local Organising Committee) is part of a bigger body that organises the African Games.

"The LOC has some responsibilities including ensuring that we have the organisational logistics, the facilities and equipment needed for the Games."

Ghana was awarded the Games in October 2018 and more than 5,000 athletes from over 50 countries are expected to compete.

Final dates have still to be announced for the event, which is expected to be held in Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast.