{"id":150117,"date":"2026-04-02T15:37:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:51:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:51:48","slug":"afcon-preps-gather-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace","title":{"rendered":"AFCON Preps Gather Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ap-summary\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\n<h4>What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n<p>Tanzania is making significant strides in its preparations for AFCON 2027, with Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba announcing the development of new training grounds and the refurbishment of key stadiums. The government aims to enhance sports infrastructure and promote talent development through various competitions, ensuring the country is ready to host the tournament alongside Kenya and Uganda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Tanzania. <\/strong> <\/span>PRIME Minister Mwigulu Nchemba has said that preparations for AFCON 2027 are progressing smoothly, with three new training ground projects currently underway: Farasi Grounds, Gymkhana Annex, and Leaders Club. The facilities are expected to provide essential support for teams participating in next year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n<p>These new venues complement the facilities already completed in Dar es Salaam, including Major General Isamuhyo Stadium, Gymkhana Club, and the Law School of Tanzania grounds, all of which are now fully equipped and ready to serve as official training sites.<\/p>\n<p>Presenting the government\u2019s review and budget estimates in Parliament in Dodoma on Wednesday the PM said the developments are part of efforts to meet hosting requirements.<\/p>\n<p>He said host countries (Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda) are expected to provide not only match venues, but also adequate training facilities for national teams participating in the finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese preparations include the construction and rehabilitation of stadia as well as supporting infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The training grounds are expected to be used by teams throughout the tournament, providing space for preparation alongside the main stadiums.<\/p>\n<p>The Prime Minister also outlined progress on the three main venues on mainland Tanzania. He said that Samia Suluhu Hassan Stadium in Arusha has reached 75 per cent completion, the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam is 95 per cent complete following refurbishment, and construction of Dodoma Stadium is ongoing, with progress at four per cent.<\/p>\n<p>He said the projects form part of wider plans to strengthen infrastructure linked to the tournament and ensure the country is ready to host. Mwigulu said investment in sports infrastructure is expected to contribute to longer-term benefits, including employment opportunities, tourism and growth of the sports sector.<\/p>\n<p>He also highlighted efforts to promote talent development through school competitions.<\/p>\n<p>National tournaments such as inter-primary and secondary games (UMITASHUMTA and UMISETA) have been organised, alongside participation in international competitions, including the CAF Schools Championship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government will continue to organise and strengthen school competitions such as UMITASHUMTA and UMISETA to identify, nurture and develop young talents who can represent the country in future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, in Ghana, Tanzania won the boys\u2019 title at the CAF Schools Championship, a result the PM said highlights the role of school competitions in developing future players for youth national teams.<\/p>\n<p>He also noted recent progress in club football, where four Tanzanian teams (Simba, Young Africans, Azam and Singida Black Stars) reached the group stages of continental competitions for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Premier Mwigulu says it will continue to oversee preparations for AFCON 2027, while strengthening international participation and expanding programmes to identify and develop young talent.<\/p>\n<p>The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is a prestigious football tournament held every two years, showcasing the continent&#8217;s top national teams. Tanzania, alongside Kenya and Uganda, is set to host the 2027 edition, marking a significant opportunity for the nation to enhance its sports infrastructure and promote football development. Historically, Tanzania has faced challenges in football, but recent investments and government initiatives aim to elevate the sport&#8217;s profile and nurture young talent for future competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Tanzania<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What You Need to Know Tanzania is making significant strides in its preparations for AFCON 2027, with Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba announcing the development of new training grounds and the refurbishment of key stadiums. The government aims to enhance sports infrastructure and promote talent development through various competitions, ensuring the country is ready to host [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":150116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,17,7089],"tags":[20,268,15503,711,15193],"class_list":["post-150117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-sport","category-to-homepage","tag-afcon","tag-football","tag-sports-infrastructure","tag-tanzania","tag-youth-development"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AFCON Preps Gather Pace - Tanzania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tanzania&#039;s Prime Minister announces progress in AFCON 2027 preparations, including new training facilities and stadium refurb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFCON Preps Gather Pace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tanzania&#039;s Prime Minister announces progress in AFCON 2027 preparations, including new training facilities and stadium refurb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tanzania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T15:37:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T16:51:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/sites\/17\/2026\/04\/sm_1775148440.72391.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"AFCON Preps Gather Pace\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-02T15:37:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-02T16:51:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace\"},\"wordCount\":587,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/sites\/17\/2026\/04\/sm_1775148440.72391.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AFCON\",\"football\",\"sports infrastructure\",\"tanzania\",\"youth development\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"sport\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/afcon-preps-gather-pace\",\"name\":\"AFCON Preps Gather Pace - 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