Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda will bid to host the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON 2027. The three East African neighbours have submitted a combined declaration of interest to CAF, the regulatory body that oversees the biannual competition.
Three more countries have expressed interest: Algeria, Botswana, and Egypt. Egypt hosted AFCON as recently as 2019, while Algeria hosted the African Nations Championship (CHAN) – the pan-continental event for locally-based players – earlier this year, indicating that those two countries are unlikely to struggle with infrastructural requirements for AFCON 2027.
However, it is uncertain how much investment will be required for Botswana’s or the joint East African effort to be successful. Botswana’s application was supposed to be a joint one until last week, when Namibia withdrew at the last minute, citing financial problems.
CAF has only approved one venue in Kenya for international games, the Nyayo National Venue in Nairobi. Because multiple venues were not ready, the country was revoked of the ability to host the 2018 CHAN only four months before the finals.
The Kenyan government issued a statement in December regarding its potential AFCON 2027 candidature, announcing that its cabinet had “sanctioned the revitalization of football as a key cog of our nation’s social fabric” in order to “revitalize the prospects of Kenyan football.”
“This national effort will encompass the rebuilding of the national men’s team and women’s team,” the statement added.
The four AFCON 2027 bidders now have until May 23 to submit final official plans ahead of inspection visits in June and July.
CAF is yet to decide who would host the 2025 AFCON after stripping Guinea of the privilege in October owing to insufficient preparation.
Botswana Unsure of AFCON 2027 Host Bid After Namibia Drop Out
Botswana is attempting to save its bid to host the AFCON 2027 after Namibia backed out of a partnership agreement one day before the deadline for submitting expressions of interest.
In June of last year, the adjacent countries inked an agreement termed BONA2027, which is based on a 60-40 finance agreement that covers both tournament costs and earnings.
Despite the fact that Namibia would bear only 40% of the costs and benefits, the country terminated the agreement due to a shortage of funds.
Namibia’s sports minister indicated in a letter to his Botswanan counterpart that the government will not provide the additional cash required for AFCON 2027 plans, including more than $200 million to rehabilitate sports facilities. It will, however, honour all outstanding payments for work completed on the proposal to date.
Following a severe drought, the country is currently re-aligning its objectives in order to avert what has been termed a “catastrophic economic situation.”