IOC president Thomas Bach encouraged an Olympic bid from Africa while mentioning changes being discussed to Olympic bidding procedures on a trip to the continent last weekend.
“Africa has produced excellent athletes and yet has not staged the Olympic Games,” Bach said, according to Reuters. “We [at the IOC] would be happy to see a feasibly bid from the continent.
“As you know, since my election as IOC president [in September], we are already discussing changes to bidding procedure under the framework of Olympic Agenda 2020 where we want to open doors to more cities and more countries to bid to organize the Games.”
The Olympic Agenda 2020 was described by the IOC as “a roadmap for the Olympic Movement” under Bach’s presidency that is expected to be finalized by the end of 2014.
An African city has never hosted an Olympics. The most recent bid from the continent was by Cape Town, South Africa, for the 2004 Olympics, which were won by Athens. Cape Town was third in voting. South Africa, the first African nation to host the World Cup in 2010, has discussed bidding for the 2024 or 2028 Olympics.