By Alex Osei-Boateng
ACCRA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The sixth edition of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Africa Congress opened here on Thursday, bringing at least 50 journalists and sports personalities from 25 African countries together to discuss and deliberate on the way forward for African sportspeople and sports development.
The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) is hosting the three-day congress as part of the celebration of its 50th anniversary.
Ghana's Minister of Youth and Sports Isaac Kwame Asiamah opened the congress and called on the sports press fraternity to develop strategies to create public awareness of the enormous benefits of sports as a tool to promote national unity, peace, understanding and friendship among people.
"Indeed, where politics and diplomacy have failed to resolve strained relations between nations and individuals, it is sports that came to the rescue," he said, citing examples of how the people of Rwanda used sports to reconcile after the 1994 genocide.
The congress is expected to include expert presentations and discussions on contemporary issues on sports media, administration and hosting of sporting events.
