25 Oct 2015

Former national 400 metre runner, Obakeng Ngwigwa has been appointed the technical director (TD) of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA).

Ngwigwa, who is based in Abuja, Nigeria, is the first Motswana to serve in a top level position in continental sport.

As technical director, Ngwigwa is charged with providing technical assistance to ANOCA’s 54 member National Olympic Committees in areas of athletes and coach development, Olympic solidarity programmes, funding and games.

The position has a permanent place in ANOCA’s coordination commission and is responsible for supervising host cities for games under ANOCA.

In the commission, Ngwigwa joins Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) chief executive officer, Tuelo Serufho who was recently appointed to the structure.

The immediate assignment for the two, together with their four other counterparts, will be to ensure a successful delivery of the third African Youth Games in Algeria in 2018.

The position was previously held by Robert Mutsauki of Zimbabwe, who was ANOCA’s founding technical director.

Commenting on the appointment, Serufho said for the former athlete to be appointed to the post was a positive development, not just for Ngwigwa, but for Botswana.

“No Motswana has ever served at that level in continental sport, and as such the development is trailblazing, which Batswana should cherish. He will carve the path for other Batswana to follow, both in continental and international sport bodies,” he said.

Serufho further described Ngwigwa as a talented, driven and hardworking young man,  adding that he was confident that he would make Botswana proud at the continental body.

Ngwigwa said he was excited to serve in ANOCA after retiring from active athletics.

As technical director, he said some of his roles include monitoring  Olympic solidarity programmes to the 54 African member countries, to monitor the uptake of the Olympic solidarity programme by the African National Olympic Committees.

Furthermore, he said he has to ensure that members were accessing programmes offered by Olympic solidarity, make follow ups on offers of training of African experts by partner organisations and NOCs.

In addition, he said he has to always look for ways African member NOCs may exploit opportunities provided by, and not limited to, the IOC, organising committee of Olympic Games, international organisations and the Olympic family as a whole.

He said he would also act as secretary and advisor of the ANOCA Games Commission and provide all necessary technical reports.

Furthermore, he said he would represent ANOCA when required by the president of ANOCA or the secretary general.

     Quizzed on how Botswana stands to benefit from his appointment, he pointed out that he would be responsible for the entire 54 African member NOCs.

As such, he noted that Botswana would benefit the same as other countries.

“There is nothing different that will be extended to Botswana and not to other countries just because I am from Botswana. Maybe my country can benefit from my experience after the contract has elapsed,” he said.

On other issues, ANOCA technical director said the BNOC was doing a good job in sports development and talent identification, and that they were one of the NOC members that have successfully promoted long-term athlete development. The only set back, he said, was at the implementation stage.

However, he said they have made coaches, athletes and spectators aware of the programme.

He said for the success of LTAD, the BNOC needs support, specifically funding from the ministry or relevant stakeholders to implement the strategy, given that the country Botswana was doing well in sports development.

Ngwigwa recently completed a Masters in Sport Administration from the Russian Olympic University, under BNOC sponsorship.

He also holds a bachelor of science degree in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina.

He was a graduate trainee in the IT department, a programme offered by Botswana National Sport Commission to elite athlete’s scholarship beneficiaries who graduated from university. ENDS