Ile-de-France — The Africa Station, in Île-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, opened its doors to the public a few days before the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, in partnership with France Médias Monde. RFI went to check out this unique venue designed to celebrate sport, the spirit of the Olympics and the diversity of African cultures.
The Africa Station is a meeting place for African athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as well as for sports fans and journalists.
Situated on a small island called L'Île-Saint-Denis, not far from the Stade de France, it hosts a sports club, 'Club 2024', and the African Station media hub.
Open to the public every day from 2pm Paris time, it includes a fan zone, as well as a conference hall, stalls, a food court and a stage for concerts and other performances.
There are stands with food and crafts from countries including Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a dozen other countries.
A feast for African countries
Many of the African athletes are expected to come after their competitions to meet the public and press, before joining an evening of festivities, hosted by a different country each day.
On Thursday, the Algeria party attracted more than 5000 people, while Liberia organised a concert which coincided with the national holiday of 26 July.
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"We want to say happy 26 to our country, as it's our independence day!" Manseen Logan and Madeah Addy, from the 'Go Team Liberia' organisation, speaking to RFI.
"We have our concert here, our artists are here, Cyrus the Shield and Tootsie deejay, and our producer, Ace Harris, our producer. And we're here to promote Liberia."
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Meanwhile, Nadine Tshilombo, the manager of the DRC's Business zone, says the Africa Station is a great place to network.
"It is important for us to represent the DRC during the Olympic Games, make our country shine and offer business opportunities between the DRC and the rest of the world," she told RFI.
Covering sports for Africans
A team of African journalists is also based at the station, covering the Olympic Games with the help of CFI, a French media development agency.
Fifteen journalists from thirteen French-speaking African countries were invited to create a temporary editorial team to create multimedia content.
"The idea is to produce 100 percent African content for colleagues, for French-speaking African media who do not necessarily have the means to come here to France themselves to cover the Olympic Games," Togolese journalist Noel Tadegnon, head the team."
"We operate like a traditional editorial team: We have an editorial conference and we try to distribute the stories with different angles and everything. And then this content undergoes production, which are then made available to French-speaking African media via a platform."
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Thierry Vallat, CEO of CFI, says it's a unique atmosphere - both friendly and professional.
"The journalists benefiting from the Paris Medias 2024 project will meet sportsmen and women from Africa, as well as all those who are interested in sport or subjects related to the continent."
The Africa Station is open everyday until 11 August.
