IBA Continues to Implement a Comprehensive Zonal Development Programme Across the African Continent
August 26th, 2025 / African Corner
The International Boxing Association (IBA) continues to work diligently to elevate coaching, as well as refereeing and judging standards on the African continent by delivering a special zonal programme with the aim to foster both personnel and professional growth in the region, and to strengthen the army of officials and coaches across the continent.
The key objective of the project is to embrace more African countries and provide them with further development opportunities at zonal level competitions through IBA 1-2 Star R&J training, as well as zonal online courses for coaches. “These initiatives foster a sense of belonging to the IBA family, paving a way for self-development and growth in the African boxing community. IBA is determined in providing lifelong learning opportunities for the continent and investing in continuous professional development initiatives and quality education for AFBC which remains a high priority for our organization,” said Chris Roberts OBE, IBA Secretary General & CEO.
The zonal development programs have already included a series of IBA 1-2 Star R&J Courses conducted for countries from Zone 2, Zone 3 and Zone 4 hosted in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique respectively. In addition, a series of IBA 1-Star Coaches Courses were delivered for the same zones in online format. The zonal Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Programme will continue, with upcoming training planned for Zone 1, as well as other educational opportunities tailored for individual countries within both their national and regional competitions.
“The development of Africa continues together with IBA, and once again we contributed to the education of coaches. The recent IBA 1-Star Coaches Course Online for AFBC Zone 4 is clear proof of the growing need for development amongst the African continent. It also proves what I have always said; coaches from Africa are truly “hungry and thirsty” for knowledge. It is remarkable to see how participants consistently elevated their level throughout the course, with every coach showing significant progress by the end,” emphasised Gabriele Martelli, IBA Coaches Committee Chair and IBA Coaches Instructor.
IBA extends it gratitude to the African boxing community for their assistance with the organization of these important initiatives and encourages other AFBC countries to send their requests for IBA Educational Courses via development@iba.sport.
