What the Youth Olympics revealed about Africa’s growing sevens footprint

In February 2026, following the huge success of SVNS 2 in Nairobi that saw over 15,000 fans come through the gates at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Herbert Mensah, President of Rugby Africa, made a bold claim.

“What do you expect? HSBC on African soil with the incredible Kenyans,” Mensah said to Rugby Afrique.

“This is what happens when you combine world-class rugby with passionate supporters.

“Kenya has proven that it can host the world. The organisation, the energy in the stadium, the government support, this is a blueprint for Africa. When Africa hosts, Africa delivers. Africa is not the future of rugby, Africa is the now.

“When 15,000 people come to celebrate the sport, when leaders of government stand behind it, when young boys and girls see themselves on that stage, you are building something far greater than a tournament.

“You are building belief.”

Fast-forward to last weekend at the 2026 Youth Olympics in Dakar, and it is becoming clear that Mensah’s grand proclamations not only carry weight behind them, but have signs to completely reshape the sevens game.

Six nations found themselves on the podium across the men’s and women’s event in the Senegal capital, with France, Australia and Argentina – sides that traditionally have flourished across the three previous iterations of this tournament – among the sides represented.

But the remaining three sides were all first-timers to the Youth Olympics Sevens, and all were teams from the African continent: the South African men’s side, the Kenya women and the Madagascar women.

The women’s results were of particular note, with Kenya defeating Australia in golden point time 17-12, while Madagascar’s bronze placed finish marked the first Olympic medal the nation has won at any level.

All these players have come through local and regional tournaments in Africa – and the results in Dakar suggest these tournaments can not only provide a strong high performance environment, but in time, put these players in a position to go to a higher stage.

Kenya has been one of the major areas of growth in that regard, the 2026 National Sevens Circuit seeing dramatically increased funding, multiple divisions of men’s tournaments, increased game time for the women’s tournaments, and more.

Neighbours Uganda have also been on the move, having their own sevens circuit as well as sending representative sides to the Kenyan tournament.

One of the most slept-on rugby nations worldwide is Madagascar, with rugby being the most popular sport in the country – especially with women, making Dakar’s bronze medal finish a significant result following the men’s sevens side qualified for SVNS 3 in 2025.

South Africa are unsurprisingly still top dog on the African continent as the current SVNS men’s champions, however the rainbow nation is seeing colossal growth in their woman’s program at large, with the Blazeboks making it from regional qualification to the SVNS World Championship in just one year.

However, South Africa, at least on the sevens front, might be challenged sooner rather than later, with Kenya knocking them out in the semi finals in the Mauritius Edition of the African Rugby Sevens this year, eventually going on to defeat Madagascar 15-12 in the final.

The African governing body had to split the Rugby Africa Sevens qualification tournament into two legs June this year due to the Ebola outbreak limiting travel in the region, the other tournament for SVNS 3 qualification taking place in Kampala, Uganda.

Of note, that tournament was won by another rising rugby nation, Zimbabwe, who defeated hosts Uganda 26-19 to qualify for a SVNS event for the first time in nearly 15 years, set to head to Dubai at the end of the month for SVNS 3.

That is even before we get to the likes of other developing nations beneath these sides, with Tunisia, Morocco, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Mauritius among several nations who all had promising results across their men’s and women’s programs in 2026.

While regional tournament results are significant, Dakar suggests that these pathways can produce talent that can compete on the global stage – and it seems clear the powers that be at World Rugby have picked up on the momentum on the African continent.

The current ground zero for this interest outside of South Africa looks to be Kenya, the Shujaa backing up their form in the 2026 SVNS 2 and SVNS World Championship form by defending their 2026 Safari Sevens title, the Lionesses also completing a Kenyan clean sweep in the women’s tournament.

The Kenyan Rugby Union have set themselves a clear goal to qualify for the men’s and women’s SVNS Series, with the success for the women in Dakar an especially valuable result that points to quality depth and more success in the future.

SVNS 2 is set to return to Nairobi next year, getting a sizable upgrade to the recently opened 60,000 seat Talanta Sports Stadium, the largest stadium in the country.

Kenya is very likely to feature again in both tournaments in SVNS 2, and could be joined by Zimbabwe should their men’s sevens side, the Cheetahs, make the final in Dubai.

If the number of African sevens sides continues to grow in the lower divisions of SVNS, it will inevitably break through to the SVNS Series, while also encouraging the promising growth of other rugby nations in the region.

It is important to recognise these regional programs still need time to cook, and in the competitive world of international sevens rugby, complacency never announces itself.

However, momentum in rugby appears to be with several developing African nations, and sevens looks to be the first place where these nations will make a big splash, as evidenced by the potential for sevens to transform rugby’s foothold on the continent.

If these sides are set to be a big part of the future of international sevens rugby, bring it on.