Alibaba celebrates culture, connection and innovation at Dakar 2026
Worldwide Olympic Partner Alibaba is celebrating the rhythms of Senegal's traditional sabar drum at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, with its AI-powered Teranga Beat experience, now open to visitors at the official Festival Site on Dakar's Corniche West.
Key Facts
- Alibaba's AI-powered Teranga Beat experience at Dakar 2026 transforms visitors into digital sabar drummers, celebrating Senegalese culture through personalised AI-generated content.
- Alibaba supports Dakar 2026 with AI cloud technology, including a Qwen-powered assistant, digital ticketing, Games management systems, and private cloud infrastructure.
- Through its Panda Pack Project, Alibaba aims to reach 350,000+ children across 850 schools while leaving a long-term digital legacy by transferring Games cloud infrastructure to Senegal.
Alibaba brings the Teranga Beat to life at Dakar 2026
The interactive installation allows fans and athletes to try their hand at playing a real sabar drum, before seeing their image transformed into a personalised AI-generated video of themselves playing the instrument in traditional Senegalese clothing. Their digital avatars can then join a collective drumming performance on a giant drum-shaped screen, alongside those of other visitors.
Inspired by Teranga, the Wolof concept of hospitality, the installation celebrates the sabar drum's important place in Senegalese cultural life, where it traditionally brings people together for festivals, ceremonies and celebrations.
Visitors can also interact with a cloud-based AI-powered assistant, based on Alibaba's Qwen large language model, which provides information about Dakar 2026, including competition schedules and venues, in English and French.
The Teranga Beat experience builds on the use of Alibaba's technology in the spectacular Opening Ceremony on 31 October, when an AI-generated video, created using Alibaba's WAN video generation model, brought together 100 participants from the Dakar 2026 Learning Academy in a virtual drumming performance.
Supporting young people through sport
Alongside its activities at the Festival Site, Alibaba is supporting young people in Senegal through the expansion of its Panda Pack Project.
Delivered through Alibaba Philanthropy, the initiative is providing sports equipment packages to support Jeunesse en Jeux, the Dakar 2026 engagement programme aimed at encouraging participation in sport among Senegalese schoolchildren.
The initiative aims to reach more than 350,000 children across 850 schools, helping to extend the impact of the Youth Olympic Games beyond the competition venues and into local communities.
Alibaba technology supporting Dakar 2026
Alibaba is also providing cloud-based technology to support the delivery of Dakar 2026, including digital ticketing and Games management services.
The company has developed dedicated private cloud infrastructure for the Games, which is set to be handed over to Senegal after the event to support the country's long-term digital development.
“The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games are the first Olympic sporting event taking place on African soil, and I'm delighted that our Worldwide Olympic Partner, Alibaba, is helping bring this historic moment to life,” said Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee.
Through its cloud and AI technology, Alibaba is helping the Games run more smoothly and bringing fans around the world closer to the action.
Alibaba has been a Worldwide Olympic Partner since 2017, supporting the digital transformation of the Olympic Games through its cloud computing and e-commerce services.