Kenya to Co-host 2027 AFCON — Infrastructure Race is Now On

Twelve months. That is roughly how long Kenya has to transform four football venues and upgrade the infrastructure around them to host what will be the largest sporting event in East African history — the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, co-hosted with Tanzania and Uganda.

The Sports Ministry's AFCON readiness desk has identified four Kenyan venues: Kasarani, which is currently undergoing a Ksh8 billion renovation; Nyayo National Stadium; a new purpose-built facility in Kisumu; and an upgraded ground in Mombasa. Of the four, only Kasarani is fully contracted to a specific timeline — June 2027 — while the other three face funding gaps and contractor challenges.

CAF's inspection team visited Kenya in August and issued a report that gave the country an overall readiness rating of "amber" — meaning concerns exist but no red-line issues have been triggered yet. The inspectors were particularly focused on training facility infrastructure (a concern across all four Kenyan host cities) and hotel accommodation capacity in Kisumu and Mombasa, which currently falls short of the 5,000 team and official rooms required.

Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen moved to reassure both CAF and the Kenyan public in a parliamentary session this week, saying the government was on track. "We will not embarrass Kenya. Every stadium, every training facility, every hotel — it will be ready," he said.

Tourism stakeholders in Mombasa and Kisumu are more anxious. Hotel developers approached by the Ministry have cited financing difficulties in scaling up quickly, and at least two planned hotel projects that were expected to break ground in Q1 2026 have not yet started. The SGR extension to Kisumu — targeted for July 2027 completion — would provide a transport link critical for moving fans between host cities, adding another layer of pressure to the already stretched timeline.