Billions Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zanzibar Splashed on CHAN 2024 Stadiums

As Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania host the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024), focus will be on the five stadiums set to be used for the month-long tournament.

The tournament kicks off on Saturday with the opening match in Dar es Salaam between Tanzania and Burkina Faso while Uganda will host the third playoff as Kenya stages the final.

Kasarani and Nyayo stadiums are the venues in Kenya, Benjamin Mkapa in Tanzania, Mandela National Stadium in Uganda and Zanzibar’s Amaan Stadium are the five host venues and to make them ready for CHAN 2024, billions were spent by the respective governments.

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Completed in 1987 by Chinese firm Shen-Li Engineering just in time for the 4th All African Games, Kenya’s biggest continental event before CHAN 2024, the 60,000-seater Kasarani Stadium is the country’s biggest sporting facility.

Since then, Kasarani has undergone a number of renovations that have cost billions but none of them elevated it to the standards of CHAN 2024.

Ahead of CHAN 2024, the stadium was closed in late 2023 and completed in June 2025 with Ksh2.4 billion spent to upgrade it after which the capacity is now 48,000.

Kasarani will host the final match of the tournament as well as Group A matches involving Harambee Stars, who have DR Congo, Morocco, Angola and Zambia in their pool.

Kenya’s second biggest stadium, Nyayo Stadium is the country’s oldest stadium as it was constructed in 1983 and like Kasarani, it has also undergone several renovations that still did not meet international standards.

However, with CHAN 2024 coming, the Kenyan government has spent Ksh1.2 billion to upgrade it to international standards and it will now host other Group A matches involving Angola, Zambia, DR Congo and Morocco.

Initially completed in 2007, the 60,000-seater Benjamin Mkapa Stadium is the most eye-catching and modern of the five CHAN 2024 facilities and hosts all national team matches as well as league ties, including the famous Kariokoo derby between eternal rivals Yanga and Simba.

Ahead of CHAN 2024, the stadium was closed in March 2025 for renovations designed to put in the right conditions for the tournament and the Tanzania government allocated it Tsh31 billion (Ksh1.58 billion) for the upgrades.

Following inspections by CAF officials, the stadium was cleared in June, and it will stage the tournament’s opening match as well as all Group B ties involving Tanzania, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Central Africa Republic.

The idea for a new modern stadium in Uganda was first floated in 1968 but it was not until 1997 that the Mandela National Stadium (Namboole Stadium) was completed and just like most of the CHAN 2024 facilities, it was built by Chinese.

The stadium, whose construction began in 1993, was built to the tune of $34 million (Ksh4.4 billion) on 147 acres of Namboole Hill, hence the name Namboole Stadium, and underwent another refurbishment in 2010-2011 for $2.8 million (Ksh361 million).

Ahead of CHAN 2024, the Ugandan government invested Ush97 billion (Ksh3.35 billion) in renovating Mandela National Stadium with the country’s military, the UPDF Engineering Brigade, overseeing the renovation works.

Namboole will host all Group C matches involving Uganda, Guinea, Niger, South Africa and Algeria as well as the third-place playoff.

The oldest of the five facilities, the Amaan Stadium was completed in 1970 and was China’s first stadium in Africa that was gifted to President Abeid Karume’s government.

The 15,000-seater facility has undergone a facelift that started in August 2023 and ended in December that year to a tune of Tsh52 billion (Ksh2.64 billion), a figure that raised eyebrows in the country.

Zanzibar was initially not supposed to host any CHAN 2024 matches but was given Group D fixtures that involve Senegal, Nigeria, Congo and Sudan as well as one quarter-final.