Minister of State at the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs Chrysoula Zacharopoulou will be on an official visit to three West African countries from 29 March to 3 April, and from 1 to 3 April in Ghana. Her visit will start with Benin, then Togo and end with Ghana.

Chrysoula Zacharopoulou is Minister of State to the Minister for Europe Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, since May 2022. She is in charge of Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships.

This visit is part of a process of renewing the partnership between France, Europe and the African continent focused on youth, innovation and culture, and the construction of a balanced, reciprocal and responsible relationship, marked by the speech of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron on 27 February 2023.

The Minister of State’s visit to Ghana will begin with the Freedom Skatepark on Saturday 1 April 2023 from 4.30 to 5.30 pm.

The Freedom Skatepark is the very first fully functional and sustainable skatepark in Ghana, which was created in 2021 by Sandy Alibo, a French Caribbean creative. Supported by the French Development Agency, the Freedom Skatepark enhances the growth of board sports in Ghana and helps young people to participate in creative activities that build confidence and provide a valuable platform for self-expression.

Sandy Alibo also founded Surf Ghana, a skate and surf Collective that provides easy access to board sports for all youth across Ghana; Skate Gal Club, a free weekly meet-up to teach women skateboarding in Ghana; and Vibrate, a workstation for creatives, including the first community recording studio in Accra.

The French Embassy has already organised, on 14th March 2023, a skateboarding event in this skatepark on the occasion of the 500 days before the 2024 Olympic Games which will take place in Paris. This event was part of a relay around the world between the 128 French Embassies abroad labelled "Terre de Jeux 2024"- including the French Embassy in Ghana - which can be translated as "Land of the Games", or "Playground of the Olympic Games".

Hon. Evans Bobie Opoku, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, and Ben Nunoo Mensah, President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, graced the event and delivered a speech, alongside the Ambassador of France to Ghana, HE Jules-Armand Aniambossou.

The Freedom Skatepark also hopes to be a training ground for Ghana's potential inclusion in the skateboard category at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Sport is a priority for French cooperation, which encourages the development of the sports economy in Africa, a vector of social cohesion and economic development, through various means, including cooperation in the construction of Ghana's first skatepark. The French embassy will also in 2023 and 2024 carry out an innovative project to professionalize and unite Ghanaian sports stakeholders and support Ghanaian youth towards the 2024 Olympic Games.

Skateboarding, a new Olympic discipline since the last Olympic Games of Tokyo in 2020, and sport in general, as Surf Ghana reminds us, can give women, men and young people autonomy, inspiration and a way to gain self-confidence. Sport transcends borders, whether national, cultural or political. It transmits values necessary for building a common world such as fairness, team spirit, discipline, perseverance and respect.

It is a powerful tool for strengthening social ties and promoting sustainable development and peace, as well as solidarity and respect for all, values that are of the utmost importance in a world facing so many conflicts.

These are the reasons why France, as a country that stands for these values, will visit this skatepark, in the person of Chrysloula Zacharopoulou.

The Minister of State will visit the skatepark, with the French Ambassador to Ghana Jules-Armand Aniambossou. She will start with a visit to the skateboarding track, followed by a tour of the premises of the Freedom Skatepark, including the shop and the “Vibrate” place, a workstation for creatives and a recording studio.

Afterwards, the Minister of State Chrysoula Zacharopoulou will attend a skateboarding demonstration and will have the opportunity to discuss with young Ghanaians this innovative discipline and the spirit of sport so dear to both France and Ghana.

At the end of her visit, she will speak to the press, and to the journalists on site.