After two months of lobbying, Namibia has finally agreed to Botswana’s invitation to bid for co-hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations Finals.
The news of Namibia’s agreement was first announced by the Namibian Minister of Information and Communication Technology Peya Mushelenga late this past Friday.
News reports from Namibia indicate that the country’s cabinet has already approved for budgetary provisions to be made should the joint bid be a success.
This past Monday, Botswana’s Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture (MYSC) confirmed that the pact to bid and co-host ‘materialised on Friday 18, March 2022 in Namibia.’
While it had taken a while for Namibia to formally agree to Botswana’s overtures to co-host, indications had always been that it was just a matter of time before they came to the table.
Even before a formal agreement was reached, a delegation from both countries attended the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Cameroon on a benchmarking mission and also to ask for support for their joint bid.
The mission was reported to be a success as the parties reported a resounding support received by many African countries as well as the Confederation of African (CAF) leadership.
From then on, things moved swiftly as the Namibian cabinet mandated its Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service to enter into a bidding process with Botswana on behalf of the country.
This past Friday, a delegation from Botswana, led by the Minister of Sport, Tumiso Rakgare visited Namibia to finalise the agreement. The delegation was made of Permanent Secretary at MYSC Kago Ramokate, Policy Specialist and Chairman of AUSC Region 5 Moreetsi Bogosi, Botswana National Sport Commission (BNOC) chief executive officer Tuelo Serufho and Botswana Football Association (BFA) Technical Director Tshepo Mphukuthi.
While the Minister and his delegation have remained mum on details surrounding the joint bid pending a press conference which will be called in future, news from Namibia indicate the bid will be made ‘on a 60:40 formula.’
Under this agreement, Botswana will allegedly bear 60 percent of the bid while Namibia will bear the remaining 40 percent.
As part of the agreement in place, should the two countries win their bid, half of the teams playing in the tournament will be hosted in Botswana and another half in Namibia.
