CAF and PAMOJA hosts set August 2026 milestone for AFCON 2027 delivery

CAF has held a high-level kick-off meeting with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to align delivery plans for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2027, putting formal structure around infrastructure timelines, cross-border movement and operational readiness.The meeting in Kampala brought together the three sports ministers, presidents of the host federations and local organising committee leadership, alongside CAF’s acting general secretary Samson Adamu.Adamu warned the hosts against treating the event as an extension of recent regional tournaments, saying: “CHAN was a valuable lesson, but AFCON is a completely different tournament with greater scale, expectations and requirements. We must adopt a new mindset and avoid comparisons.”CAF said the parties endorsed an accelerated delivery roadmap, with August 2026 identified as a key milestone to review readiness progress across venues and tournament operations.Host officials reviewed infrastructure preparedness, hospitality, safety and security, media and broadcast readiness, mobility for fans and stakeholders, plus governance and finance.Each country set out progress on stadium construction or upgrades, training sites and supporting infrastructure such as transport networks, airports and accommodation, with governments committing that facilities will meet CAF requirements within agreed timelines.A core commercial and operational focus is movement across the three-country footprint, where ministers agreed to continue work on a PAMOJA visa framework aimed at simplifying travel during the tournament.CAF said the framework is expected to consider visa exemptions, expedited clearances and harmonised customs and immigration processes for teams, officials, accredited media, sponsors, suppliers and tournament equipment.Governance was also a priority, with the parties discussing the structure of the PAMOJA local organising committee and a coordination model intended to tighten decision-making across three jurisdictions.The host nations reiterated that the tournament should be positioned as a tourism and investment catalyst, with a joint commitment to presenting East Africa as a single destination experience rather than three separate markets.The timeline gives public authorities and delivery partners a defined checkpoint to manage construction risk, procurement sequencing and event overlay planning, while also creating a clearer window for commercial activation planning.Rights holders and sponsors typically need venue certainty and travel clarity to scale campaigns, hospitality programmes and cross-border packages, especially when a tournament is spread across multiple capitals and venue clusters.The next phase is expected to centre on detailed progress reporting, periodic ministerial and technical meetings, and agreement on the practical operation of the visa and border processes ahead of the August 2026 review.