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Merck Foundation calls for action together with 13 African First Ladies to Build Healthcare Capacity

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More than 10,000 participants attended the hybrid Luminary – onsite and online

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, November 29, 2022/APO Group/ — 

Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej and African First Ladies of Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia,  Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Angola and Central Africa Inaugurate 9th Edition of Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) Africa Asia Luminary 2022; African First Ladies marked together the 5th Anniversary of Merck Foundation and 10 year journey of their development programs  by sharing the impact of their partnership programs with Merck Foundation to build healthcare capacity, support girl education and break infertility stigma; More than 10,000 participants including healthcare providers, policymakers, researchers, academia and media representatives from 70 English, French, Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries attended the hybrid Luminary – onsite and online to benefit from scientific and social sessions to address social issues and advance healthcare capacity in 32 critical and underserved medical specialties.

Merck Foundation reported the impact of providing 1470 scholarships to doctors from 50 countries in 32 critical and underserved specialties such as; Oncology, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Preventive, Endocrinology, Fertility, Embryology, Reproductive Care, Respiratory Care, Acute and Intensive Care, Neonatal Care, Pediatric Emergency, Advanced Surgery, Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Palliative Care and Pain Management and more; Link to the Facebook live steam of Inaugural Session of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary & African First Ladies High Level Panel: http://bit.ly/3XE4EWp

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, conducted their annual conference, the 9th Edition of “Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary” on 15th & 16th November 2022, as a hybrid conference (onsite and online). The conference was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of both of Executive Board of E.Merck KG and Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary, along with African First Ladies of 13 Countries;

  • H.E. Mrs. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of the Republic of Botswana
  • H.E. Madam ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE, The First Lady of the Republic of Burundi
  • H.E. Madam DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, The First Lady of the Democratic Republic of The Congo
  • H.E. Mrs. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of the Republic of The Gambia
  • H.E. Mrs. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of the Republic of Ghana
  • H.E. Mrs. CLAR MARIE WEAH, The First Lady of the Republic of Liberia
  • H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of the Republic of Malawi
  • H.E. Mrs. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of the Republic of Mozambique
  • H.E. Mrs. MONICA GEINGOS, The First Lady of the Republic of Namibia
  • H.E. Dr. FATIMA MAADA BIO, The First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone
  • H.E. Mrs. MUTINTA HICHILEMA, The First Lady of the Republic of Zambia
  • H.E. Dr. ANA DIAS LOURENÇO, The First Lady of the Republic of Angola
  • H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central Africa

Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej emphasized, “I am very proud to welcome my dear sisters, our Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers, the First Ladies of 13 African Countries, who are also the Ambassadors of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”. We are together celebrating the 5th Anniversary of Merck Foundation and 10th Anniversary of our programs since 2012 which aim to build healthcare & media capacity and raise awareness on a wide range of sensitive and critical social and health issues like Supporting Girl Education, Ending Child Marriage, Stopping GBV, Breaking Infertility Stigma, Ending FGM, Women Empowerment, and Diabetes Awareness.

“I am proud that Merck Foundation has provided till today, more than 1470 scholarships to young doctors from 50 countries in 32 critical and underserved specialties. This is a great milestone of transforming patient care landscape and leading Africa to a better, healthier and stronger future. I am happy to hear from my dear sisters their experiences and success stories  in their respective countries, together we will be an important part of Africa’s legacy.” added Senator Kelej.

H.E. Mrs. NEO JANE MASISI, The First Lady of Botswana & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother said, ”Our partnership with Merck Foundation started in 2018 and since then, we have achieved very important milestones . Together with Merck Foundation, we launched a Poster Contest on “Stop GBV” initiative to end Gender-Based Violence in Botswana and Merck Foundation provided 20 Sewing Machines to the women groups who suffer GBV across Botswana to be able to generate monthly income. Moreover, more than 31 scholarships were provide for our local Doctors in Botswana in 32 different underserved and critical specialties such as: Diabetes, Endocrinology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Oncology, Respiratory Medicines, Acute Medicines and Sexual and Reproductive Medicines”.

H.E. Mrs. ANGELINE NDAYISHIMIYE, The First Lady of Burundi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother stated, “I am very proud of the partnership we have with Merck Foundation. Through our long-term partnership, 47 scholarships have been provided for our local doctors in critical and underserved specialities such as Diabetes, Oncology, Fertility & Embryology, Sexual & Reproductive care, I am very happy to share that we have succeeded to establish the first public IVF center in Burundi and Merck Foundation has provided training for the staff of Fertility Specialists, Embryologists and also technicians, who are the first local experts in my country, we are making history in Burundi.”

H.E. Madam DENISE NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, The First Lady of Democratic Republic of The Congo & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother said, “I would like to greatly acknowledge our valuable partnership with Merck Foundation that we started in 2020, and in a very short time, we have together achieved a lot. I am Proud to share that Merck Foundation have provided 77 scholarships to our doctors in the fields of Oncology, Fertility, Embryology, and Diabetes, which gave us our first Fertility specialists & Embryologists. Together, we also conducted the Online Health Media Training for our journalists to create a culture shift, to break the silence, and be the voice of the voiceless in order to raise awareness on sensitive social and health issues like Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM and Stopping GBV, Diabetes early detection and prevention”.

H.E. Mrs. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of Republic of The Gambia & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother emphasized, “Our partnership journey is going from strength to strength as we have achieved many important and significant milestones since 2017, when I hosted Merck Foundation CEO and together, we launched the programs in my country. Through the partnership with Merck Foundation, 32 scholarships have been provided to young Gambian doctors in medical specialties. And, we are making history by providing training to first specialists in many fields such as Oncology, Respiratory, Fertility, Embryology, Reproductive Care, Diabetes, neonatal care, Endocrinology and more. It is history in the making.”

H.E. Mrs. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother emphasized, “I have been working closely with Merck Foundation to empower women in general and infertile women in specific, not only through creating a culture shift but by also making the fertility, sexual and reproductive care available for them and their husbands whenever they need it, nationwide. We have been able to provide more than 110 scholarships of 32 specialty training in the fields of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Respiratory, Acute Medicine, Sexual and Reproductive medicine, Embryology, Respiratory, Critical care, Psychiatry, General Surgery, Dermatology, Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine, Gastroenterology, Neuroimaging for Research, Pain Management, Rheumatology, and Neonatal Medicine. All these fields are very critical to our country which I consider a great milestone to transform patient care landscape in my country”.

H.E. Mrs. CLAR MARIE WEAH, The First Lady of Liberia & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother said, “I am very happy to work closely with Merck Foundation to empower infertile women through access to information, education, health and change of mindset. Merck Foundation also provided Sanitary Napkin Production Machine and raw materials, this will really help our young girls. I truly appreciate our partnership and acknowledge their smart and serious strategy to provide specialty training for our local doctors. Till today, 37 scholarships have been provided to our doctors in many critical and underserved specialties. This is a huge achievement for us, and we are definitely making history in Libera by training the first specialists in many medical fields such as: Infertility, Embryology, Oncology and Diabetes”.

H.E. Mrs. MONICA CHAKWERA, The First Lady of Malawi & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother expressed, “I have worked closely with Merck Foundation since 2020 to define the right strategy to build healthcare capacity, empower infertile women, and support girl education in Malawi. With the support of Merck Foundation and their “Empowering Berna” program , 13 women have transformed their lives as they got a chance to establish their own small businesses so that they can be financially independent; and under the ‘Educating Linda’ program, we provided scholarships of 60 Malwian school girls to continue thier education till they graduate. Moreover, 33 scholarships have been provided to young Malawian doctors in 32 critical medical specialties such as Fertility & Embryology, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Oncology, Internal Medicine, Sexual & Reproductive Medicines, Ousmane emergency, respiratory care, acute care and more. My journey with Merck Foundation has definitely been amazing, very impactful and efficient”.

H.E. Mrs. ISAURA FERRÃO NYUSI, The First Lady of Mozambique & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother emphasized, “I am very impressed with initiatives of Merck Foundation under the “More Than a Mother” Campaign. We recently conducted our First Online Health Media Training for our journalists to emphasize on the important role that media plays to influence our society to raise awareness on a wide range of social and health issues. The training session benefitted many of our journalists. Together with Merck Foundation, I am fully committed to working closely to introduce more such innovative ideas that engage different sectors to create a culture shift. Moreover, 14 scholarships have been provided to our doctors for the Online Diabetes Master course, a unique course specially developes in Portuguese language so that our local doctors can benefit from it, under Merck Foundation’s  Nationwide Diabetes Blue Points Program”.

H.E. Mrs. MONICA GEINGOS, The First Lady of Namibia & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother said “I am glad to have this ongoing long-term beneficial partnership with Merck Foundation. I am particularly excited as Merck More Than a Mother Ambassador, as together we have been doing amazing work in the country to empower women living with infertility through access to information, education, information, change of mindset and economic empowerement. Moreover, 53 scholarships have been provided to young Namibian doctors in the fields of Diabetes, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Respiratory Medicines, Acute Medicines and Sexual and Reproductive Medicines, and many more. For Namibia, 2.4M population, we will soon have more than 18 skilled and trained doctors nationwide  to assist couples living with infertility or need any sexual & reproductive help, this will be a significant contribution towards improving women health in general and reproductive health in specific”.

I am proud that Merck Foundation has provided till today, more than 1470 scholarships to young doctors from 50 countries in 32 critical and underserved specialties

H.E. Dr. FATIMA MAADA BIO, The First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone stated, “Our partnership with Merck Foundation is since 2018 and we highly appreciate their programs. Together, we have provided 46 scholarships to our doctors from different provinces of Sierra Leone in the fields of Oncology, Embryology & Fertility, Sexual and Reproductive Health Medicine, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Orthopaedics, Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Clinical Psychiatry, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Neonatal Medicine, Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Respiratory Medicine and Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine. I can proudly say that along with Merck Foundation we are making history in Sierra Leone by providing training for the First Oncologists in the country with the aim to establish the first skilled cancer care team who will be working in our new hospital, this will improve access to quality and equitable cancer care in the country. This is a huge achievement for us since we did not have any oncologists or fertility specialists and we have in general a very limited number of local specialists in the public sector before starting our partnership with Merck Foundation.”

H.E. Mrs. MUTINTA HICHILEMA, The First Lady of the Republic of Zambia expressed, “I am very proud of our partnership with Merck Foundation. I am very impressed with ‘Educating Linda’ program to support girl education and provide scholarships to girls to complete thier education by providing thier tutiton fees, we have implememted this program in Zambia and provided 22 girls with scholarships to cover thier tuttion fees of nursing schools and health sciences univesities .this scholarship wil continue till they complete thier education successfully. I also very interested in “More Than a Mother” Campaign, this campaign is very critical for my country and Africa, at large. I am fully supporting this initiative as the First Lady of Zambia and as an african woman, it is very close to my heart. Moreover, together with Merck Foundation, we have provided 50 scholarships to our doctors from different provinces across Zambia and we will scale up this program under the leadership of my office”.

During her speech, H.E. Mrs. ANA DIAS LOURENÇO, The First Lady of the Republic of Angola & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother stated, “I am looking forward to start the implementation of the ‘Educating Linda’ Program which aims to empower girls through education and end child marriage, this program is very close to my heart as I consider it one of my main objectives as the First Lady of Angola; and as an African woman, I strongly believe that girl Education is one of the most critical areas of women empowerment. Moreover, I am very excited about the 8 important different competitions for our communities which are: Best Media, Song, Film and Fashion awards with the aim to encourage Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields to play their important role in sensitizing their communities about many critical social and health issues.”

H.E. Madam BRIGITTE TOUADERA, The First Lady of Central Africa & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother emphasized “I greatly value our partnership with Merck Foundation that is since 2015, to support us to advance and build the healthcare capacity in our country by providing scholarships to our local doctors in various medical specialities. Together, we worked on “Empowering Berna” program where we established small businesses for infertile and childless women and trained them to run their businesses so they can have income and become independent and have purpose life. Also, as a part of Merck Foundation’s Education Linda program, we will be providing scholarships to 20 under-privileged schoolgirls from our country to support girl education. Moreover, 5 scholarships have been provided to our doctors by Merck Foundation so far in Oncology and Diabetes”.

The 9th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2022 was streamed live on the social media handles of Merck Foundation (http://bit.ly/32YFKpv) and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej(http://bit.ly/3ATPaEd).

Link to the Facebook live steam of Inaugural Session of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary & African First Ladies High Level Panel: (https://bit.ly/3XE4EWp)

Merck Foundation is transforming the Patient care landscape and making history together with its partners in Africa, Asia, and beyond, through:

• 1470 + Scholarships provided by Merck Foundation for doctors from 50 Countries in 32 critical and underserved medical specialties.  

Merck Foundation is also creating a culture shift and breaking the silence about a wide range of social and health issues in Africa and underserved communities through:

• 2200 + Media Persons from more than 50 countries trained to better raise Awareness about different social and health issues

• 8 Different Awards Launched annually for best media coverage, fashion designers, films, and songs

• Around 30 songs to address health and social issues by local singers across Africa

• 8 Children’s Storybooks in three languages – English, French, and Portuguese

• Pan African TV Program “Our Africa by Merck Foundation” TV Program addressing Social and Health Issues in Africa through “Fashion and ART with Purpose” Community

• 1000+ Girls from 15 African countries supported through scholarships or school items, annually.

• 9 Social Media Channels with more than 5 Million Followers

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.

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Africa’s Grid Constraints Come into Focus as Regional Markets Push Toward Integration

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June 26, 2026

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Africa

Regional power pools are advancing and renewable pipelines are growing, but the regulatory and financial architecture needed to connect them remains the continent’s most critical infrastructure gap – an issue central to the Power Africa Today conference at AEW 2026

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –Africa’s electricity demand is projected to nearly double to 2,291 TWh by 2050, requiring an estimated $30 billion in transmission and grid infrastructure investment to unlock and integrate new generation capacity. Yet across the continent, grid systems are struggling to keep pace with rapidly expanding supply pipelines and rising demand.

In Nigeria, repeated nationwide grid collapses as recently as February 2026 underscore the fragility of aging transmission infrastructure. In East Africa, tower failures along the 428 km Loiyangalani-Suswa line temporarily stranded output from Lake Turkana Wind Power – Africa’s largest wind installation. Meanwhile, demand growth pressures are accelerating across North Africa, where electricity consumption is expected to rise by around 50% by 2035, driven by urbanization, desalination projects, and climate-related temperature increases.

Despite these constraints, generation investment continues to accelerate across Africa, particularly in renewables, gas-to-power and hybrid systems. However, without equivalent investment in transmission and interconnection, much of this new capacity risks being underutilized or stranded. This growing imbalance between generation and grid capacity is driving a sharper focus on system-wide planning and regional market design – issues that will be central to the newly launched Power Africa Today conference at African Energy Week 2026. The platform will bring together policymakers, utilities, investors and developers to explore how regional interconnection, cross-border trading frameworks and financing structures can better align generation growth with grid expansion.

Power Markets Experiment with Reform

Alongside infrastructure challenges, Africa’s electricity sector is undergoing gradual – but uneven – market reform. Most countries still operate vertically integrated systems dominated by state utilities, but a growing number are introducing competitive frameworks to attract private capital and improve efficiency.

Zimbabwe opened its electricity market to full private participation across generation, transmission and distribution in 2025, targeting $9 billion in new investment. South Africa is advancing one of the continent’s most ambitious grid expansion programs, with plans for 14,500 km of new transmission lines and 133,000 MVA of transformer capacity by 2034, alongside mechanisms designed to crowd in private financing. Kenya, meanwhile, has introduced open access regulations enabling independent power producers to wheel electricity directly to multiple off-takers, reshaping how generation assets interface with the grid.

Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future

Regional Integration Remains Fragmented

Efforts to connect Africa’s fragmented power systems are progressing, though at different speeds across regions. In Southern Africa, the World Bank’s RETRADE SAPP program, approved in 2025, is deploying $12 million to strengthen renewable integration and transmission capacity across 12 member states. In East Africa, the Ethiopia–Kenya–Tanzania Electricity Highway is now in trial operations at up to 2,000 MW, marking a significant step toward a more interconnected regional grid.

West Africa is also moving toward deeper integration, with permanent synchronization of the West Africa Power Pool expected in 2026. Analysts, including the African Finance Corporation, argue that such synchronization is critical to unlocking large-scale hydropower potential and industrial demand across the region. Longer term, full synchronization between the Eastern and Southern African power pools – targeted for the end of 2026 – could create one of the world’s largest cross-border electricity trading corridors.

Building Bankable Financial Architectures

While interconnection is advancing, infrastructure alone is not enough to create investable electricity markets. Investors consistently cite the lack of standardized offtake structures, creditworthy counterparties, and cross-border payment guarantees as key barriers to scaling capital deployment.

New models are emerging to address these constraints. Africa GreenCo, operating across Zambia, Namibia and South Africa, is helping to aggregate independent power producers under a single creditworthy intermediary, standardizing power purchase agreements and reducing counterparty risk. At a broader level, AUDA-NEPAD estimates that Africa requires around $30 billion in additional investment to complete priority transmission corridors and establish three fully interconnected regional trading blocs by 2030.

“Interconnected electricity markets are the foundation of Africa’s industrial future,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “The question at Africa Energy Week is not whether integration is possible – the evidence is already there. The question is which regulatory frameworks and financial structures will get projects to financial close, and which markets will be ready when capital is looking to move.”

The Power Africa Today conference will run alongside AEW 2026, taking place October 12–16 in Cape Town, and will focus on the regulatory, financial and infrastructural architecture needed to build interconnected electricity markets capable of attracting institutional capital and delivering reliable, cross-border power at scale.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

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African Development Bank Group and La Francophonie Sign Partnership Agreement to Promote Youth Employment in Francophone Africa

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June 26, 2026

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The agreement was signed during a meeting between the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, and African Development Bank Group President, Dr Sidi Ould Tah in Paris, France

PARIS, France, June 25, 2026/APO Group/ –The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) and The International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) on Wednesday entered a strategic partnership to strengthen digital skills, employability, and entrepreneurship of young people and women in five African countries: Benin, Cameroon, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.

 

The agreement was signed during a meeting between the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, and African Development Bank Group President, Dr Sidi Ould Tah in Paris, France. The agreement will address a major challenge faced by countries in the Francophone world and across Africa: providing young people with access to opportunities offered by the digital economy and fostering the emergence of a new generation of entrepreneurs.

The partnership calls for the implementation of training programs in digital professions and entrepreneurship, in fields such as web and mobile development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data analysis. Participants will also receive guidance toward employment and self-employment, as well as support for innovation and business creation, notably through training camps, prototyping activities, and partnerships with incubators and accelerators.

The African Development Bank Group and OIF will also work with national authorities in these five countries and training institutions to sustainably strengthen local capacities and promote ownership of the programs by national stakeholders. An initial pilot phase, lasting 12 to 24 months, will be rolled out in the five partner countries, followed by a gradual expansion to other member states depending on the results achieved.

The African Development Bank Group is pursuing a bold agenda based on “Four Cardinal Points” developed by Dr Ould Tah, the third of which is ‘Turning Demographics into a Dividend.’ This is about strategically converting Africa’s rapidly growing and youthful population into a decisive engine of inclusive growth, productivity, and innovation through large-scale investment in human capital—particularly youth and women.

 

It sees Africa’s growing young population not as a risk, but as a major asset. With the right policies and investments, this potential can create jobs, help small businesses grow, bring more informal businesses into the formal economy, and equip young people with the skills needed for the future. By investing more in education, science and technology, vocational training, entrepreneurship, finance, and digital tools, Africa can help its people drive economic transformation, stay competitive, and build lasting, resilient growth.

The OIF said the agreement marked the first concrete step in its initiative to mobilize innovative and additional funding for its most impactful projects.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

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Paddles up! Hong Kong marks 50 Years of international dragon boat thrills

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June 26, 2026

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HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 25 June 2026 – With top teams from around the world gearing up for the hotly contested Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races this weekend (June 27-28), participants and spectators can expect a bumper programme of action, fun and entertainment along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui – one of the city’s most vibrant districts known for its iconic skyline views and tourist attractions.

There is much to celebrate. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races as well as 35th anniversary of both the co-organiser, Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association, and the sanctioning body, International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF). The IDBF added to the occasion by announcing earlier this year the relocation of its headquarters back to Hong Kong.

Riding on the wave of excitement, the organiser, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), extended the annual Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Festival period to 13 days (June 19 – July 1), beginning on the historic Tuen Ng Festival (Dragon Boat Festival) and concluding on July 1, which is the 29th anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

As the headline international flagship event of “Hong Kong Summer Fun”, Dr Peter Lam, Chairman of the HKTB, said the Festival not only ran over a longer period, but also featured a stronger race line-up and more vibrant entertainment programmes than in previous years, offering an experience found only in Hong Kong for locals and visitors, while showcasing Hong Kong’s position as the Events Capital of Asia.

More than 220 teams from 16 countries and regions will compete for top honours in the world‑renowned setting of Victoria Harbour. This year’s event also introduces the special 50th Anniversary Fishermen Invitational Cup and the 50th Anniversary Championship, paying tribute to the traditional spirit of dragon boat racing.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a series of thematic activities along the Avenue of Stars, including a 22-metre traditional wooden dragon boat, a dragon boat-themed installation in collaboration with the new film Minions & Monsters, live music performances and a line-up of intangible cultural heritage performances, including martial art Wing Chun, Chinese juggling diabolo, traditional musical instruments ruan and guzheng.

Highlighting Hong Kong’s reputation as the birthplace of modern international dragon boat racing, as well as its strengths as a global hub city, the IDBF has taken a significant step in its long‑term global strategy with the formal incorporation of International Dragon Boat Federation Limited in Hong Kong on 29 April 2026.

“Incorporation in Hong Kong is not a conclusion, but a beginning. It anchors our Federation in the city where our international story started and strengthens our ability to serve our members and the global dragon boat family,” said Claudio Schermi, President of the IDBF.

As part of this new chapter, the IDBF has applied for funding under “the Pilot Scheme to Strengthen the Presence of Hong Kong in Asian and International Sports Associations”, which was recently introduced by the HKSAR Government’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. The Pilot Scheme is an initiative designed to support Asian and international sports associations establishing their headquarters or regional headquarters in the city.

The Dragon Boat Festival has a long and colourful history dating back more than two thousand years. Held each year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the day commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.

According to legend, Qu committed suicide for his beliefs by throwing himself into the Luo River. The villagers nearby raced out on their dragon boats, banging gongs and drums to scare away fish and other underwater creatures to stop them from eating Qu’s body. The tradition continues to this day, with dragon boat competitions taking place at locations across Hong Kong, each reflecting the unique characteristics of its neighbourhood.

Traditional dragon boat treats feature prominently during the festival, notably zongzi. These glutinous rice dumplings, traditionally wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed or boiled, are widely available during the festive period.

 

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