List of traditional games in Africa

In the precolonial period, participants in physical sports could gain status, identity, and power. Some types include foot-racing, jumping, stick-fighting, dancing, moonlight and ritual plays, swimming, horse-racing, and wrestling.^[1] In the latter, participants would often represent their village or region, training from a young age for the big community events.^[2][3] Physical skill has traditionally been associated with hunting, pastoral work, food gathering, and warriors. In some parts of the continent sport was taken very seriously,^[3] in others less so, for instance in Setswana the closest match means "play that is not serious".^[4] Canoe racing was common along the Ubangi River in Central Africa, and warriors engaged in archery, spear throwing, and cattle racing.^[3] Sport was traditionally masculine, and largely excluded women, except in dance, and in some cases wrestling.^[5][6]: 41 However many traditional games have been poorly documented and lost.^[7]

Gambling was widespread and often played at high stakes, where games were interpreted within the relevant cosmologies. Regions where it was especially popular were the Guinea coast and Central Africa, however it was usually stigmatised.^{[6]: 47–8}

Colonial governments viewed the expansion of European sports as key to their "civilising mission", and many traditional games died out. Colonial education systems formalised the teaching of Western sports, thought to instil "moral character", while traditional sports were viewed as "primitive, immoral, and anti-Christian".^[8][7] In some cases, mission schools promoted traditional games that had close European counterparts. The Tutsi high-jumping contest gusimbuka was revered by colonists.^[3] Gambling games such as abbia in Cameroon were suppressed.^[6]: 50

In the postcolonial period, Western sports have been heavily prioritised over traditional sports.^[3] Physical education in the present-day remains largely based on the colonial/Western model, and traditional sports aren't usually included in the curriculum. There are also no traditional sports in the African Games.^[7] The African Traditional Sports and Games Confederation (ATSGC), a branch of the International Council of Traditional Sports and Games (ICTSG), seeks to protect Africa's traditional games, and the first African Traditional Sports and Games is scheduled to be held in Swakopmund, Namibia for June 2026.^[9][10]

Mancala has been played across the continent, and has many different names and versions, such that it has been called "the national game of Africa".^[22]: 17

• Sport in Africa

• Traditional games of Nigeria
• Traditional games of South Africa