AFCON 2027 Dates Confirmed as Uganda Reveals Huge Budget for Key Infrastructure Upgrades

Uganda’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations has revealed the official dates for next year’s tournament as well as an elaborate plan for a successful hosting.

Uganda will stage AFCON 2027 alongside Kenya and Tanzania and the three East African nations are under pressure to stage a memorable tournament, given it will be an expanded one from 24 to 28 teams.

Uganda’s AFCON LOC has confirmed that AFCON 2027 will be staged from June 19 to July 18 next year, a return to the summer dates which are preferred by European clubs who lose key players to the tournament.

Uganda will have two primary competition venues being the Mandela National Stadium (Namboole) in Kira Municipality, Wakiso District and Hoima City Stadium in Hoima City.

Besides the two stadiums, there will be eight training facilities which must be completed by January 2027.

After the Confederation of African Football (CAF) raised concerns over the standards of hotels near Hoima City Stadium, the government has set aside UGX101.1 billion for the upgrading of select hotels in Hoima and Masindi and construction of a new hotel to serve Kabalega international airport accessed through a social credit facility under the Uganda Development Bank.

Another UGX213.76 billion will be allocated for upgrading at least 47.53 kilometres of select roads around Hoima City Stadium (29.5 km) and Namboole Stadium (14.83 km), Kinawataka Road (3.2 km) as well as 8.8 km of pedestrian walkways and streetlighting.

Further, UGX184.9 billion is being set aside to establish a passenger terminal at Kabalega Airport and operationalise the facility as an international airport and UGX17.7 billion will be allocated to the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) for the upgrade of FUFA Kadiba Stadium as a Training Facility for AFCON-2027 as well as UGX12.55 billion to support the Uganda Cranes for their AFCON 2027 preparations.

The Uganda AFCON 2027 LOC will receive UGX109.9 billion to implement various tournament specific preparations across its 13 sub-committees responsible for tournament including guest safety and security, host city/country branding among others while Namboole’s upgrading will consume UGX56.2 billion in the 2026/2027 financial year, bringing the total allocation for Namboole Phase-II development to UGX248.6 billion. The rest of the funds are all available in the current financial year.

Meanwhile, UGX6.44 billion will go to the deployment and improvement of ICT infrastructure to support AFCON-2027 facilities, UGX91.05 billion committed to the upgrade of Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Masindi General Hospital, and Buseruka Health Centre-III to a capacity where they can handle ICU, accident and emergency care among others and UGX13.75 billion allocated to Hoima City (UGX6.55 billion), Masindi Municipality (UGX5.1 billion), and Kira Municipality (UGX2.1 billion) towards improvement of sanitation and environmental hygiene services during the tournament.

Uganda will also spend UGX3.39 billion to upgrade aeronautic meteorological services support to Kabalega and Entebbe International Airports, UGX6.25 billion allocated for the upgrade of the water grid capacity in Hoima City to serve the upcoming AFCON-2027 facilities, UGX23.33 billion for the upgrade and maintenance of the railway, central Terminal, Kampala-Mukono line, Namanve Station, and Namboole Halt and UGX4.69 billion for the establishment of dedicated electricity lines to facilities that support AFCON-2027.

Meanwhile, the government has committed to waive the requirement for visa fees for all visitors to Uganda for a period of at least three months starting with one month prior to kick-off of AFCON-2027 up to one month after the final match.