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The new 60,000-seaster AFCON 2027 stadium will gobble over Ksh40 billion but there are lessons Kenya can learn from Ivory Coast who hosted the 2023 tournament.
Following the revelation that Talanta Sports City Stadium will cost Ksh40 billion, Kenyans have been curious over the standards of the new state-of-the-art facility that will be used for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Kenya is constructing the new 60,000-seater stadium that will be primarily used for football and rugby matches and its completion is set for December 2025.
Chinese firm China Road and Bridge Construction Company is in charge of the project with the assistance of the Kenyan military and progress has been impressive so far.
Talanta Sports City will have seven changing rooms, tech-savvy facilities suited for live TV broadcasts, VAR booths and goal-line technology.
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20:27 - 03.02.2025
Billions Kenya will spend on stadiums for AFCON 2027 & CHAN 2024 tournaments
Kenya is preparing a number of stadiums to be used for the CHAN 2024 and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and it will be a costly affair for the country.
There will be no athletics track, although athletics fields will be erected adjacent to the stadium, whose groundbreaking was conducted by President William Ruto in March 2024.
Kenya will use the stadium as its main venue for AFCON 2027 which the country will co-host with Uganda and Tanzania and would have learnt from other hosts on some of the things to include and exclude.
Ivory Coast is a prime example as they hosted what is considered the best ever AFCON following the highly successful 2023 tournament that took place early last year.
The country spent over $1 billion (Ksh129 billion) for the AFCON going into stadia construction, road and transport infrastructure as well as many other things but Kenya will share the costs with its East African neighbours, cutting down the expenditure.
A huge chunk of the $1 billion went into building new stadiums in Ivory Coast in the cities of Yamoussoukro, Korhogo and Abidjan and the three stadiums cost $276 million (Ksh35.6 billion) in total although many believe it is more than that.
As per the BBC, the Ivorian government spent $79 million (Ksh10 billion) on the 20,000-seater Yamoussoukro stadium which has a lawn, four training fields, a conference room, a massage room, six sectorization areas, seven tripods, five infirmaries, two changing rooms, a warm-up room, two elevators, 200 places reserved for the press, a press room, places reserved for people with reduced mobility.
Multifunctional and multidisciplinary, this masterpiece includes a synthetic athletics track, jumping and throwing areas.
Another $84 million (Ksh11 billion) was spent on the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, Northern Ivory Coast. It is also another 20,000-seater stadium and offers well-equipped changing rooms, infirmaries, press rooms, ultra-modern technologies, all reinforced by a natural lawn. It also has a tartan track for athletics events.
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11:00 - 29.01.2025
UPDATE: Talanta Stadium contractor on when the venue will be ready for use
Talanta Sports City stadium contractor has provided update on when the venue will be potentially ready for use.
The biggest stadium construction project in Ivory Coast was the Ebimpe (Anyama) Olympic stadium popularly known as the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium, and like Talanta Sports City, it is a 60,000-seater facility.
It cost over $113 million (Ksh15 billion) to construct as a result of successful cooperation between the Ivorian and Chinese governments.
The multi-purpose stadium is located in Ebimpe and Anyama, in northern Abidjan, and is the largest in the country and one of the most modern in Africa. It hosted 10 AFCON 2023 matches including the opening and final matches.
It is totally covered and built on a total area of 61,250 square metres. It also includes two presidential lounges and an anti-doping control room.
The stadium, however, made headlines for the wrong reasons before AFCON 2023 started as during a friendly between Ivory Coast and Mail in September 2023, the game was suspended at halftime because of a heavy downpour with a flooded pitch making play difficult.
It exposed the faulty drainage system with water finding its way into the VIP and VVIP lounges, as well as the main hall of the stadium, perhaps lessons for Kenya as they construct Talanta City Stadium.
As Kenya continues with the Ksh40 billion project, it will hope that it meets all safety and FIFA standards and does not experience early setbacks like it happened in the Ivory Coast, after such a huge outlay.
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