Gaborone – Botswana’s government officials have expressed confidence that they couldn’t have chosen a better partner than Namibia to place a joint bid to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Speaking to New Era Sport on the sidelines of the just-ended Gaborone International Meet, Botswana’s sport ministry’s deputy permanent secretary Kitso Kemoeng said groundwork has already started between the two countries and consultations are ongoing to make sure that they submit a strong and convincing joint bid.
Southern African has played host to the Afcon three times only, first in 1996 in South Africa, 2010 in Angola and again in South Africa when it stepped in at the last minute to host the 2013 edition after original host country Libya pulled out at the 11th hour due to war.
Kemoeng is confident that Namibia and Botswana have what it takes to co-host the 2017 Afcon, saying both countries are ready and have the capacity to resolve issues such as inadequate infrastructure and other related amenities needed to host an event of such magnitude well ahead of time for the competition in 2027.
“Talks have been initiated between the two countries as you are aware, and some sort of groundwork has been rolled out in terms of the approach. I can confirm that after engagements, both sides are excited about the opportunity to jointly host this prestigious competition. We wouldn’t be going on with engagements if we had doubts about our chances of succeeding in our joint bid,” he added.
“We do not have doubts; we want to put in a strong bid to convince the authorities to look at us. Both countries have never hosted the competition before, and this is a great chance for Caf to consider adding the two countries to the list of bidders. It is time to return it to Southern Africa again. So, anyone who is having plans to bid for the 2027 edition should take a backseat because we are ready,” enthused Kemoeng.
The joint bid from the two neighbours will face challenges from Burkina Faso, Morocco and Senegal, who are also vying to host the 2027 Afcon. Next year’s edition of the competition is due to be held in the Ivory Coast, with Guinea awarded the 2025 tournament.