Kenya’s preparations to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals with Uganda and Tanzania received a boost when MPs approved Sh4.1 billion for renovating training venues.
The funding, under Supplementary Estimates II for the 2025/26 fiscal year, was approved on Wednesday. It will be channelled through the Sports Fund.
“The training grounds are under construction, but we did not have the budget to complete them in time for the tournament,” said the Budget and Appropriations Committee chairman Samuel Atandi.
“Honourable Speaker, we now have Sh4.1 billion which we are going to use to ensure they are completed,” added the Alego Usonga MP.
The funds comes a week after the National Treasury proposed an allocation of Sh25.2 billion to the Sports Fund for the 2026/27 fiscal year. In the fiscal year ending June 30, the Sports Fund was allocated Sh18.38 billion.
The 2027 Afcon finals, marking the 36th edition of the continental tournament, will take place from June 19 to July 17. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are racing against time to have all their designated venues ready by December.
In Kenya, the 48,000-capacity Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Kasarani and the 60,000-capacity Talanta Sports City have been designated as match venues. The training venues are: Ulinzi Sports Complex, Nyayo stadium, Police Sacco Stadium, MISC Kasarani Annexes A and B, Kenya Academy of Sports A and B, Kenya Utalii Sports Ground, and Talanta Annexes 1, 2 and 3.
A view of a section of Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group
While work is ongoing at Talanta Sports City and MISC Kasarani, renovations have yet to begin at most of the training venues.
By the time CAF conducts its next inspection in August, the host countries are expected to have made significant progress in preparing the venues for the matches and training sessions.
When he appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Sports and Culture on May 19, Sports PS Elijah Mwangi said renovation of the Afcon venues was among the key programmes affected by insufficient funding in the State Department for Sports.
Mwangi said although the contractual cost of upgrading stadiums and training venues for Afcon was Sh15.11 billion, onlySh3.74 billion had been paid.
To be approved for Afcon, training venues must be secured and protected from public view, have the same surface type and dimensions as the competition pitches, have a minimum lighting level of 500 lux, and feature a dedicated team drop-off parking area.
Other requirements include having two dressing rooms with 25 lockers each, team benches and shelters, separate access for the media, and training and sports equipment.
CAF also requires the training facilities to operate primarily on generator power, with domestic electricity to be used as a backup. CAF also “strongly recommends” the construction of spectator stands at the training facilities.
Last Saturday, meanwhile, a delegation from PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting on behalf of CAF, conducted an inspection of the facilities earmarked for the tournament across the three host countries.
