Kofi Adams calls for easier travel for African athletes in Russia sports forum address

Ghana’s Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams has called for easier cross-border movement for African athletes and greater cooperation with Russia to improve training opportunities for young sportsmen and women.

Speaking at the “Russia–Africa: Together Towards Sporting Victories” panel at the 14th International Sports Forum “Russia: Country of Sports” in Krasnoyarsk, Mr Adams said closer ties could help Africa develop its sporting potential.

“Ghana values its relationship with Russia, which dates back to 1958, as early as January. It meant that less than one year after attaining independence, we formalized our relationship with the Russian Federation, and it has been so till now,” he said.

“Sports clearly is now the new area, which speaks louder than any diplomat will ever speak for any country. And so it is important to engage in these collaborations.”

The forum, held from 21 to 23 October, brought together government officials, sporting organisations, investors and experts to discuss the development of professional and grassroots sport.

Borderless Africa

Mr Adams said closer sporting ties with Russia would complement efforts to improve movement across Africa and make the continent’s large youth population more accessible to sporting opportunities.

“And this is so key because Africa currently is looking at integrating itself properly, having travels without requesting visas before even entry.

“And so we are opening up Africa and seeing Africa as just one nation. So, the 1.6 billion people are available to engage, and Africa has a huge youthful population.

“Of this almost 1.6 billion, more than 60% are below the age of 25, meaning we have an available population, some of which we may not have the full capacity to train. And so having a relationship with Russia, where they will provide some kind of training, I mean, technical areas are areas that Africa is willing to exploit.”

He said Ghana wanted to expand training opportunities across several sporting disciplines.

“Ghana specifically have done a number of things, a number of things in the area of football, in the area of boxing, in the area of tennis.

“And we think that we want to further improve training opportunities for these young ones.”

Grassroots development

Mr Adams said investment in grassroots sport was essential to producing athletes capable of competing at the highest level.

“What is very critical in listening to the Deputy Minister is about youth development and starting it very early.

“Grassroots sports, we cannot develop at the higher level if we don’t start from the foundational level.

“Everything starts from the foundation.

“If the foundation is very strong, you can put any superstructure on it.”

He said Ghana wanted partnerships that would introduce children to different sports and create pathways into elite competition and sports-related careers.

“And so we want to truly collaborate. In all these sporting fields that he has mentioned, we want to see a collaboration right from the very basic level.

“The child must have opportunity to be introduced into various forms of work, movement and sports.

“Let the child grow and grow through it to the level where they can go into elite sports or choose to do coaching or choose to do any other fields of work, sports.

“And so these are also many areas that we intend to see collaboration in.”

Ghana’s sports reforms

Mr Adams also highlighted Ghana’s efforts to strengthen grassroots development and improve the financing of sport.

The Ghana Sports Fund, established under Act 1159 of 2025, provides a statutory framework for mobilising resources for athlete preparation, welfare, infrastructure, school sport and recreational programmes.

The government has also restructured school and grassroots sport through the Schools and Grassroots Sports Secretariat, which is intended to improve coordination between early participation, talent identification and elite development.

The reforms form part of a broader effort to build a more sustainable sporting system, with opportunities for businesses in areas including sports equipment, broadcasting, facility management and digital services.

Mr Adams’ address placed youth development and international cooperation at the centre of Ghana’s sporting ambitions, arguing that long-term success depends on building strong foundations and creating opportunities for young people to progress.