Nairobi planning to bid for 2024 Olympics: Kenyan PM

By Karolos Grohmann

LONDON (Reuters)

 Kenya's capital Nairobi is planning to bid for the 2024 Olympics and become the first African city to host the Games, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

"Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking at the Kenya National House on Wednesday, announced that the Republic of Kenya will be starting the process of pitching to host the Games of the 33rd Olympiad in 2024," a Kenya House announcement said.

"If successful, these Games will be the first ever held in Africa."

The International Olympic Committee will elect the 2024 host city in 2017, with official campaigning to start two years earlier.

There have been African bids in the past, most recently with Egypt's Cairo unsuccessfully bidding for the 2008 Olympics that were awarded to Beijing.

South Africa's Cape Town had also bid for the 2004 Games, staged by Athens. The country did, however, host the 2010 soccer World Cup, the first to be held on the African continent.

The 2016 Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro - the first in South America - while Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul are bidding for the 2020 Games, with a decision to be taken next year.