31 May 2022

Naturally, because of their size and level of development, Botswana and Namibia are perceived not to have  the muscle to deliver big international events of AFCON magnitude.

However, a successful bid to co-host the 36^th AFCON football event in 2027 is an opportunity to present, to the rest of the world, a better image than currently perceived - the two neighbours are working on bidding to co-host the event.

Prior to 2027, the two nations will have to invest in infrastructure development including renovation of stadia, construction of new roads and expansion of existing ones. Also, both governments and the private sector will have to embark on  the refurbishment of hotels.

As such, besides proving to the world that ‘we’ have what it takes to host AFCON,  there is no doubt that if the bid is successful, the event will create benefits for the host nations across a number of areas such as infrastructure development, tourism and trade.

Such benefits will be derived from undertaking preparatory projects, thereby stimulating the economies and in the process creating the much needed jobs as well as improving the images of  the two countries as tourism and investment destinations.

From the competitions, the two countries are bound to emerge with better roads, transport systems, accommodation as well as technology advancement.

The duo will also showcase high security and service standards, all of which will serve to change the attitudes of nay sayers.

If reports from the recent AFCON finals, especially those before COVID -19, are anything to go by, then the two countries should brace themselves to receive the largest number of tourists in any one-month in their history.

This influx of people will create a windfall for sectors in hospitality, transport, mobile network operators and airtime merchants, food vendors and the creative industry, among others. Spending by tourists in that space of time will be a big boost to the economy such that there will be some significant regeneration and many spin-offs even beyond the competition itself.

The 2027 AFCON finals will certainly bring top executives of some of the world’s biggest corporations. Partners of the Confederation of African Football; Total Energies, VISA, Orange, 1XBET, Continental and TikTok, will not want to be left behind.

Such an influx of big shots will, therefore, present an opportunity for ministries responsible for trade in the two countries to lure executives of companies to consider opening shop or increasing their footprint here.

Botswana National Sport Commission CEO, Tuelo Serufho said in an interview that he was cognizant of the fact that there was an issue of perceived expenses in staging AFCON finals. Serufho, who was instrumental in delivering a successful 2014 Gaborone African Youth Games, said contrary to popular belief, delivering the event itself was not expensive.

“What tends to give the impression that staging competitions is expensive is the infrastructure costs. Mind you, a lot of these developments are what host countries need nonetheless,” he said.

Serufho further said roads, hotels, hospital and broadcasting capacities, which were ideal for a successful delivery of such competitions as AFCON, were also basic needs of any economy.

“Yes stadiums are expensive to build, but just like roads, we need them beyond competitions and it would be unfair to entirely attribute the cost of the construction to the competition itself.

Look at our independence celebrations, BDF Day, music concerts and other events, don’t they benefit from stadia?

Where will they be held if we did not have the National Stadium?” he asked rhetorically.

On how else the two countries would make money from AFCON apart from tourists spending, Serufho said they would get a share of the sale of television rights and ticket revenue, adding that future foreign investment would be the biggest benefit. ENDS