In the early 1960s, French-speaking countries of Africa—including France—organized the Friendship Games. The first games were held in Antananarivo, Madagascar, in April 1960, and were known as the Community Games, or French Community Sports Games.
The second games in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in December 1961, and the third and last games—with countries from outside the former French Community countries participating— were held in Dakar, Senegal in April 1963.
African Ministers of Youth and Sport met in Paris in 1962. As a few English-speaking countries were already participating, they renamed the games as the Pan African Games. The Games were granted official recognition by the IOC as being on par with other continental games such as the Asian Games and the Pan American Games.
