APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading Pan-African communications consultancy and press release distribution service, is delighted to announce that its Founder and Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard (www.Pompigne-Mognard.com), has been invited to appear as a Special Guest at the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Africa (https://AIPSAfrica.com/) Elective Congress to be held in Dakar, Senegal on February 23-26.

The AIPS Africa Elective Congress brings together national sports journalists associations from across the African continent for a series of events and meetings, culminating in the election of a new leadership team.

This year’s elections are notable for their diversity, with several female candidates on the ballot for the first time, going for key positions including Vice-President, Treasurer, and Exco membership. The Chairman of the Electoral panel is also female: Evelyn Watta from Kenya, the former Acting Secretary General of AIPS.

AIPS Africa is part of the global AIPS organization, founded in 1924, which counts among its members more than 9,500 of the world’s top sports journalists. It works to defend the common interests between sporting media from all nations, with the purpose of assuring the best working conditions for sports media professionals.

The AIPS Africa Elective Congress is the first major in-person event attended by the African sports media since the COVID-19 pandemic, and promises to reinvigorate sports journalism on the continent with a loaded calendar of high-class international events to look forward to over the next few years.  

Dakar is the perfect venue for the Congress as Senegal will play host to the Youth Olympic Games in 2026 - the first time any Olympic competition has been held in Africa. Like the Olympic movement, AIPS has a vision for using sport to build trust, friendship and unity that transcends borders and brings people together.

The Opening Ceremony of the AIPS Africa Elective Congress will be held on February 23rd 2023 and will be attended by no fewer than 40 member associations of AIPS, as well as its president, Gianni Merlo, and other special guests. The election and the swearing in of a new AIPS Africa leadership team will be held on February 25th.

Participating countries at the Congress are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia,  South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.  

Nicolas and APO Group are at the heart of sport and media in Africa. The company has built long-standing relationships with many prominent sporting bodies and institutions in Africa and beyond.

APO Group is the Pan-African Public Relations agency of FIFA, the NBA, and the Basketball Africa League, the Main Official Sponsor of Rugby Africa, and the Strategic Partner of the Olympic Movement in Africa (ANOCA). It is also the Official Partner of many other prominent sporting organizations including iconic French football club Olympique de Marseille (OM) and Africa’s first ever Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Tour team, Team Qhubeka.

APO Group is also the Official Sponsor of the Sports for Education and Economic Development (SEED) Project, supporting the next generation of Africans through sport and education.

This commitment to sport in Africa has ensured APO Group are now one of the leading sources of sports content on the continent, both in terms of distributing huge volumes of text, images, videos, and soundbites, but also producing original content and delivering it for free to journalists all over the continent.

Commenting on APO Group’s participation at the Congress, Nigerian journalist and AIPS Africa President Mitchell Obi said: “Nicolas and APO Group have long been champions of African sport, esteemed partners of AIPS, and much-admired stakeholders in the sporting milieu. They truly bridge the gap between media and sport on our continent, so it is fitting that they will be a part of this celebration of African sports journalism.”

“Many years ago, APO Group identified sport as the perfect vehicle for changing the narrative about Africa,” said APO Group Founder and Chairman Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard. “We knew that the core sporting values of performance, teamwork, and effort could show the international community a different, vibrant Africa that perhaps they hadn’t seen before. AIPS has become a valuable partner as they help us create a true connection between sport and media, and ensure positive African stories are carried to new audiences all over the world.”