Beyond the stadiums: How AFCON 2027 can create jobs in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM: WHEN CAF awarded the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations to Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, the celebrations across Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala were loud. But celebration without preparation is just noise.

The National Sports Council of Tanzania, BMT, has now outlined 12 key opportunities associated with co-hosting. And if we read between the lines, AFCON 2027 is not really about football.

It is about whether we can use 90 minutes of a game to change the next many years of our economy. First is money. Hotels, guest houses, restaurants, shops selling replica jerseys and vendors outside stadiums will all see more customers. Banks will handle more transactions, more foreign exchange and more sponsorship deals. But tourists do not come for promises.

They come for clean rooms, working card machines and the internet that does not disappear in the 80th minute. If a visitor arrives at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium and cannot find a bottle of water, he will remember it and choose another country next time. Second is jobs for young people.

BMT points to hospitality, tourism, tech support, journalism and content creation. AFCON 2027 will need hundreds of reporters, TikTok creators, translators, drivers and guides. The question is simple: Are we ready for that? We have less than 18 months left. That is enough time to prepare ourselves to grab those opportunities if we start now.

If we wait until 2026, we will import the workforce and export the opportunity. Transport and health are the real tests. There will be higher demand for flights, buses, taxis, ride-hailing apps and even ferries to Zanzibar. Our roads, airports and logistics must move as one system.

On health, hospitals and clinics will be under the spotlight. A fan from Senegal or Egypt who gets treated at Muhimbili and goes home telling stories about good doctors is better advertising than any tourism campaign.

That is sports and medical tourism and we should plan for it deliberately. The most lasting benefit is what we leave behind. BMT mentions infrastructure upgrades: Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, new stadiums in Arusha and Zanzibar, better training grounds, roads and digital networks.

But stadiums without programmes are just expensive buildings. The real legacy must be in talent. Investments in youth academies, coaching, refereeing and grassroots scouting can give us the next Taifa Stars hero from a village in Arusha, Morogoro, Zanzibar, Mbeya, Mwanza and from any other region in our country. If AFCON 2027 does not produce better players for us, then we hosted and we left. There is also culture.

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This is a global stage to show Tanzanian hospitality, music, food, arts and the Swahili language. The world will be watching how we welcome people. And there is diplomacy. For the first time, East Africa is hosting together.

“Pamoja 2027” can position us as the sports and economic hub of the region and open doors for future tournaments. BMT has urged citizens and stakeholders to prepare early.

That is the most important sentence. AFCON is not coming to entertain us. It is coming to test us! If we treat this as six football matches, we will get six matches and nothing more. If we treat this as twelve economic sectors, we will get jobs, better roads, stronger hospitals and a new national brand.

Tanzania has the heart, the venues and now the chance to lead. When the final whistle blows in 2027, what will remain? A stadium, or a stronger Tanzania? Let us choose the second one. A stronger Tanzania!