CAF President Patrice Motsepe has expressed strong confidence that East Africa will successfully host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, praising the region’s preparation and unity ahead of the tournament.
Motsepe made the remarks on Monday in Kenya during the Africa Forward Summit, where he highlighted the growing global impact of African football and the commercial success of recent editions of the AFCON.
“Five billion people watched the AFCON in Morocco, 6.2 billion digital views — meaning billions of people worldwide were interacting and viewing what was happening in Morocco. 180 countries were watching the tournament,” Motsepe said.
He added that the economic benefits of the tournament were significant.
“The Moroccan economy benefited approximately 2 billion dollars, according to Nielsen,” he noted.
Motsepe also emphasized his optimism for the upcoming edition to be co-hosted by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania under the “Pamoja” arrangement.
“We are going to host the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition,” he said, adding that football continues to play a major role in job creation, skills development, and social unity.
“We expect that the enormous contribution of sport to job creation, provision of skills and expertise, but also to pride and bringing people together. Football unites people. We have used football to unite people from different backgrounds including race, religion, ethnic and tribal backgrounds,” he added.
Later, Motsepe held a meeting with Sports Ministers and football federation leaders from the three host nations, where he commended their progress in preparations.
The three countries reaffirmed their commitment to continued collaboration to ensure full readiness and to deliver what they described as the most successful AFCON in the competition’s history.
Uganda was represented at the meeting by Sports Minister Hon Peter Ogwang and FUFA President Moses Magogo, while Patrice Motsepe led the discussions.
Uganda’s Sports Minister, Hon Peter Ogwang, said the meeting also reviewed progress on key commitments made earlier this year.
“We also signed a Joint Resolution following our AFCON 2027 kick-off meeting held in Kampala in April 2026. Among the areas of convergence are oversight engagements between the governments, football federations, CAF, and Local Organising Committees; the PAMOJA VISA for the tournament; integrated security strategies; and expediting works on critical infrastructure,” Ogwang said.
The 2027 AFCON will be jointly hosted by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, marking the first time the tournament is staged in the East African region under the “Pamoja” unity model.
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