The call came from Minata Samate Cessouma, chair of the African Union (AU) Technical Committee for the African Games (TCAG) following a three-day meeting with the Accra 2023 Organising Committee.

Samate Cessouma, the AU Commissioner for health, humanitarian affairs and social development, led the delegation as they were given an update on preparations for the Games.

It was the first in-person meeting between the TCAG and Accra 2023 as they visited ongoing construction sites where the Games are due to take place and agreed to collaborate on key aspects to help with the delivery of the event, scheduled to be held in March next year.

"We are satisfied with the progress of work on the ground and call on all key partners involved in the process to double their efforts to ensure that the facilities are ready and handed over to the {Organising Committee} Accra 2023 in December 2023 as promised," said Samate Cessouma.

Ghana is preparing to stage the African Games for the first time, with the event set to take place from March 8 to 23 after being postponed from last year.

The Games were originally due to be held in August this year only for the event to be moved due to economic pressures, delays in preparations and disagreements between the AU, the Association of African National Olympic Committees and the Association of African Sports Confederation.

Ghana’s Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif underlined the Government’s commitment "beyond providing sports infrastructure".

"The Government of Ghana will endeavour to provide the necessary resources and support for all functional areas crucial to the African Games," said Ussif.

"This unwavering backing reflects our conviction in the transformative power of sports as a tool to enhance human and social development, fostering economic growth, and advancing political cooperation among African nations."

It was agreed that the Games Village would officially open on March 1, with athletes and officials set to arrive from March 5 to 7.

The Games are set to include Olympic qualifiers in badminton, cycling, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon and wrestling.

The other sports on the programme are arm wrestling, athletics, 3x3 basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, cricket, football, handball, hockey, judo, karate, rugby, taekwondo, volleyball and weightlifting.

There are also set to be demonstration sports in the form of esports, mixed martial arts, pickleball, scrabble, speedball, sambo and teqball.

The AU said that the meeting in Accra concluded with an emphasis on the "need for more frequent collaborations" to "ensure the smooth progression of the preparations".

It was agreed that further meetings would be staged in August and September.