Fighting talk: Why wrestling is booming in Senegal March 9, 2012 -- Updated 1232 GMT (2032 HKT) Senegalese wrestling Errol Barnett and Gris Bordeaux Dakar beach workout Imporvized gym Wheel-rim weights Bench press on the beach Wrestling is hugely popular in the West African country of Senegal Star wrestlers can earn $200,000 per contest, and others want to emulate their success Wrestling legend Gris Bordeaux says the sport has allowed him to support his family Dakar, Senegal (CNN) -- In most of Africa, football reigns supreme among sports, but in Senegal wrestling challenges it for popularity. It provides entertainment and exercise, and offers young men dreams of fame and fortune. Wrestling's popularity in Senegal makes it big business. For the sport's superstars the rewards can be huge, with the biggest names earning up to $200,000 per contest. In a country where unemployment is pushing 50%, some young men see it as a way out of poverty. Gris Bordeaux is a star in Senegal, a wrestling champion who also teaches at a wrestling school in the capital Dakar. He says wrestling is a mental, as well as physical, discipline and that reaching the top of his profession takes dedication. "It's all about making sacrifices," says Bordeaux. It requires training and meditation; your mindset is important. You have to educate yourself well. Not all wrestlers get to realize their dreams, because on the bigger level it is few that get to where I am. You need to be focused on the sport -- like over 5,000 wrestlers you will get only 10 that make it. See also: Senegal island exposes horrors of the slave trade Bordeaux credits wrestling with changing his life, bringing him success and wealth. "What I do know is that it has given me a lot of opportunities," he says. It has opened doors for me because I am able to take care of myself and my family and especially to help the young people in the community. It's perhaps a desire to emulate the likes of Bordeaux -- as well as a desire to keep fit -- that motivates young Senegalese men to work out on the beaches of Dakar. Wrestlers fight to unite world's newest nation Lacking the money to use a proper gym, some men have built a makeshift gym of their own. On the city's public beaches they have set up workout benches, using whatever materials they can -- be it car tires or wheel rims loaded with rocks to make them heavier. Some of those training at Bordeaux's school and pumping iron on the beach may one day make it onto the professional wrestling circuit, earning the right to wear the wrestler's traditional pre-fight regalia. Bordeaux describes the costumes as art. He says: "The way we dress is to show harmony -- we dress for the fight and we become different. When we wear the full attire for a fight, you won't recognize me! February 17, 2012 -- Updated 1151 GMT (1951 HKT) Young, urban and culturally savvy, meet the Afropolitans -- a new generation of Africans and people of African descent with a very global outlook. February 13, 2012 -- Updated 1421 GMT (2221 HKT) Sporting only the most stylish designer labels, wearing only meticulously matched colors, the Congo's dandies are the very embodiment of sartorial elegance. February 2, 2012 -- Updated 1134 GMT (1934 HKT) You might associate music festivals with muddy fields and heaving crowds, but Mali's "Festival au Desert" is a world away from that. January 24, 2012 -- Updated 1620 GMT (0020 HKT) Rwanda may be known for its violent past but mountain gorillas are just one of the natural attractions drawing tourists to the tiny country. January 19, 2012 -- Updated 1058 GMT (1858 HKT) The city of Livingstone, in Zambia,has an almost-forgotten past as the home of one of the oldest Jewish settlements in Africa. January 16, 2012 -- Updated 1223 GMT (2023 HKT) Farmers in Tanzania are helping to conserve threatened forests by cultivating an unlikely crop: butterflies. January 16, 2012 -- Updated 1222 GMT (2022 HKT) Victoria Falls is a natural wonder that offers rafting, wildlife and river trips. January 12, 2012 -- Updated 1235 GMT (2035 HKT) A theater company from South Sudan is translating Shakespeare into the local dialect, before performing the play in London. December 29, 2011 -- Updated 1131 GMT (1931 HKT) One woman is on a mission to bring glamor to the ghettos of the Niger Delta, while educating and inspiring promising young talent.