Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian Cabinet last week approved a bid to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) football final with Botswana.
This follows a recent fact-finding visit by a ministerial delegation from Botswana to Namibia during which local facilities were inspected. The delegation also met up with their Namibian counterparts in the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service, as well as the Namibia Football Association (NFA).
Helge Schütz from The Namibian Sport’s desk (TNS) spoke to Audrin Mathe (AM), the executive director of sport, youth and national service, about the bid. TNS: Can you tell us more about the bid and why Namibia is keen to host Afcon in 2027?
AM: The Namibian Cabinet’s approval of Botswana’s offer to co-host the event came from the friendship between the two countries, while it is also a lot cheaper to jointly host Afcon.
Under our framework this is going to be a 60/40 ratio arrangement, in which Namibia would cover 40% of the costs and reap 40% of the benefits, while Botswana would take 60% of the costs and enjoy 60% of the benefits.
With regard to matches and the hosting of teams, 16 teams would be based in Botswana, and eight would be based in Namibia, which would be split into two groups of four. Our intention is to host the teams in Windhoek at the Independence and Swakopmund stadiums.
At the same time we have also made plans to have training facilities at Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, and at four other venues in Windhoek, where the teams can prepare for the tournament.
One of the reasons we thought Namibia could host it, is because our infrastructure is one of the best on the continent, considering our road network, and our telecommunications and financial sectors.
TNS: How much money will you need to successfully stage this project? AM: We have a preliminary budget of N$450 million, while the Ministry of Works and Transport is currently doing the final financial costing for hosting the games.
Unlike Botswana, we do not have to build new stadia. We are going to stage the matches at Independence Stadium, and work on renovating the stadium will commence in June.
The other matches would take place at the Swakopmund Stadium, so those would be the two venues we propose to host Afcon. We also have other venues that would be upgraded and serve only as training venues for the teams based in these two towns, so these are the preliminary costs.
Independence Stadium has a seating capacity of only 25 000. So we are now planning to upgrade it to international standards so that we are able to host international matches. The work to be done would ensure 25 000 individual seats inside the stadium, which would meet the international requirements for hosting the games.
In the bidding requirements the Confederation of African Football (CAF) requires that stadia must seat 40 000 people, but they are not that strict about it, and it differs from country to country.
With our population, it’s not essential that we have a 40 000-seat capacity – we don’t even have the numbers to fill that up. Even in bigger countries, the stadiums are only full when the host country is playing or when it’s a cup final, so those requirements are relaxed in places where the population is small. If we look at previous Afcon tournaments, we think we will have about 50 000 people coming into the country over a period of 30 days.
So these are the opportunities we see, and we need to do this with the private sector, because although it’s a government initiative, it has to be driven by the private sector to ensure there is economic growth and cultural exchanges between Namibia and other countries – specifically Botswana, Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe, which are nearby.
But we must also cater broadly for the African tourist so they can see what Namibia showcases in terms of tourist attractions. TNS: Are you confident you can win the bid, and when will the winner be announced?
AM: We are very confident we can win the bid to host Afcon. Our infrastructure speaks for itself, and what also counts in our favour is the fact that only two other southern African countries have hosted Afcon before, namely Angola and South Africa. Afcon has mostly been concentrated in North Africa and West Africa, so we think it is southern Africa’s turn to host Afcon again.
The timelines have not been set, but what we know is that the decision would be made in Cairo in December. We think the bid will be opened either in June or July, and will close either in August or September. TNS: How would the hosting of Afcon benefit Namibia?
AM: A lot of economic opportunities could arise from this. First of all, it would jump-start our sport infrastructure. Not just that, but the Namibia Airports Company have also made a commitment to comply with all of CAF’s requirements, while there would have to be some upgrades to the roads too.
In terms of job creation, from the moment we say we’ve got the rights up to the last day of the tournament approximately 9 000 jobs would be created. Some 3 000 of those would become permanent jobs, which would be in the construction, retail and hospitality sectors, as well as the sport industry itself.
So these are jobs that would be staying here in Namibia. The infrastructure that’s going to be developed would become the product of our country. And then, besides tourism, we expect 50 000 people to come to Namibia within a 30-day period, so you can imagine the injection for our economy this would bring.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
