Namibia and Botswana are under renewed pressure to race against time in launching a comprehensive bid book for their planned joint bid for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). The bidding process of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) officially opened last week.
Last week Thursday, Caf sent a notice to all member associations to express their interest in hosting the 2027 Afcon, including details about the process that will be followed in selecting the host country or countries.
The Botswana-Namibia duo, whose joint bid for the 2027 Afcon is dubbed ‘BONA 2027’, faces tough competition from the likes of Morocco, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Zambia and Kenya, which plans to co-host the finals in 2027 – either with Tanzania or Uganda.
With the bidding process now officially open, Caf said the successful bidders for the 2027 Afcon will be announced before September later this year on the same occasion that will also confirm the 2025 Afcon hosts.
What that means is that Namibia and Botswana have a few months to present and get the facilities audit report approved by the cabinets of both countries and to also compile a comprehensive bid book that will clearly outline the two nations’ gigantic plans and ambitions for the 2027 Afcon.
Once fully completed and well packaged, the bid book will then be submitted to Caf for further scrutiny and comparison with the other bidders for the 2027 Afcon.
Sharing progress on the joint bid and his perspective on Caf’s latest pronouncements around the 2027 finals, deputy chairperson of the joint bid committee John Muinjo told New Era Sport that Caf’s latest announcements again serve as a clarion reminder to both countries that time is of the essence.
“That means we have to produce the bid book in the shortest possible time. We never had much time, as the facility audit exercise was not an easy undertaking. Despite all odds against us, we are very determined to land BONA 2027 at all costs,” said an optimistic Muinjo.
Muinjo’s optimism largely comes from the fact that hosting Afcon bolsters the host countries’ various industries, creating hundreds of seasonal jobs and crafts for the locals – and that leads to an immediate decline in the unemployment rate during the Afcon period alone.
Also, traditionally, the host country receives an excess of 20% of all revenue generated from the tournament, including tickets, television returns and advertisements on the pitch – to mention but a few of the perks.
There is, however, no denying that hosting a large-scale sporting event, such as Afcon, comes at a great financial cost.
It involves years of planning and investment by the host country to ensure all necessary infrastructural work gets done in time and meets all international requirements.
The kind of investment into hosting Afcon is no doubt a daunting task for any country, as the country is also expected to bear all costs, such as the internal transportation of the teams, referees, Caf president, executive committee and secretary general as well as hundreds of other delegates.
However, countries still opt to host Afcon because they believe there will be lasting positive economic and social spin-offs.
- ohembapu@nepc.com.na