The two-day forum is being organised by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and will bring together the top women leadership of sport on the continent.

Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) chief executive Anna Mguni (pictured) said that the forum was in preparation of the IOC World Conference on Women and Sport which is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles next month.

"The Senior Women Sports Administrators Forum brings together the top women leadership of sport on the continent," said Mguni

"The main objective of ANOCA-IOC senior women sports administrators is to discuss as a basis, the commission's plans as tabled at the Angola Forum, the IOC – commissioned Loughborough Report and the Los Angeles conference.

"The group of African women will also formulate strategies on how they expect to maintain leadership positions as well as plans to grow the numbers in and during next elections."

Mguni continued that besides focusing on sporting issues, the forum presents the country with an opportunity to promote tourism.

"Apart from dealing with the primary business of the forum, it is an opportunity for ZOC to sell the country as a safe tourist destination, as well as afford participants drawn from African countries an opportunity to appreciate the warm Zimbabwean hospitality," she said.

"This is, however, not the first time that ZOC has been asked to host a high profile event, having successfully hosted a regional forum in preparation for the London Olympic Games in Victoria Falls in 2011."

The programme of the forum will include a key note address from Zimbabwe vice-president Joice Mujuru, who will attend alongside the acting minister of women's affairs, gender and community development Olivia Muchena.

In total, the forum will play host to 34 English and French speaking delegates drawn from Gambia, Zambia, Ethiopia, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Tanzania, Mauritius, Lesotho, Namibia, Djibouti, Togo, Ghana, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, the IOC and ANOCA.

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