The way forward is clear. Governments in regions often overlooked for international tournaments must urgently address key structural gaps.
By Tuka Letura
Hosting a sporting tournament or competition is no small feat. It requires significant economic and infrastructural capacity to organise. For any nation, securing hosting rights is as much a privilege as it is an opportunity to showcase itself on the global stage and share its culture with the rest of the world.
For Africa, the mid-1990s to the early 2010s marked a golden era of international sporting event hosting. During this period, the continent staged some of the most memorable global competitions. In 1995, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup, a highly successful event that came in the aftermath of a pivotal moment in the country’s history.
Further down the line, in 2003, South Africa once again took centre stage by hosting the Cricket World Cup, this time alongside Kenya and Zimbabwe. Seven years later, in 2010, South Africa welcomed the world once more—this time in football—when it staged Africa’s first-ever FIFA World Cup. It became one of the most memorable sporting events in modern history, cherished not only by South Africans and Africans, but also celebrated worldwide.
In more recent years, South Africa hosted the 2023 Netball World Cup, further cementing its place as a trusted venue for international tournaments. Elsewhere, the Seychelles proudly staged the 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
Nigeria has also played its part, most notably with the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, a tournament that unveiled stars such as Neymar, Granit Xhaka, and David de Gea, who went on to become a Manchester United legend.
At a continental level, however, the pattern of hosting major sporting events across Africa is not particularly diverse. South Africa dominates the southern region, while in the north, Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria rotate responsibilities, with Tunisia occasionally breaking through. The CAF Men’s Africa Cup of Nations is no exception. Yet, the next edition once again returns to Morocco.
[Insert image of CAF and WAFCON host nation distribution]
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations follows a similar trajectory. This year’s tournament is being held in Morocco, the previous edition also took place in the North, and the next is scheduled to remain there as well. In the past, it has been hosted on multiple occasions by South Africa and several West African nations, but never by countries in Eastern or Central Africa.
This recurring concentration of host nations raises an important question: what exactly is preventing other regions—particularly Central Africa and much of sub-Saharan Africa outside the South in recent years—from staging these major continental and international competitions?
Hosting a major international tournament extends far beyond the mere possession of a single world-class stadium or a continental-standard sporting facility. It requires a carefully integrated ecosystem of infrastructure, including a network of venues spread across different cities, efficient transport systems to ensure smooth mobility between them, international-standard airports capable of handling increased passenger traffic, and sufficient accommodation ranging from luxury hotels for teams and officials to affordable facilities for fans. In short, a host nation must demonstrate the capacity to provide a seamless experience for participants, supporters, and global broadcasters alike.
North African countries—particularly Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria—have historically held an advantage in this regard. Their long-standing investments in tourism, aviation, and hospitality, fuelled by geographical proximity to Europe and steady inflows of international visitors, have created infrastructure that naturally supports large-scale sporting events.
Over decades, these nations have developed reliable airports, extensive hotel capacity, and modern urban transport systems that can be adapted to tournament needs. This foundation has made them perennial go-to hosts when bodies such as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and other international organisations are seeking venues.
South Africa presents another case. The country undertook massive infrastructural upgrades in the build-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Africa’s first-ever hosting of football’s biggest global event.
The legacy of that tournament remains evident: a network of world-class stadiums, improved road and rail systems, expanded airport facilities, and a hospitality sector that continues to benefit from the global exposure. Unlike in North Africa, South Africa’s investment was not built primarily on tourism, but on leveraging a once-in-a-lifetime event to reposition itself as a continental hub for mega-sporting competitions. Even before then, it possessed a structure that already surpassed that of many Central and West African nations.
Central Africa, however, continues to face some of the greatest challenges on the continent. Nations such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic face significant infrastructural gaps that constrain their hosting potential. Stadium capacities often fall short of international requirements, road and rail networks remain underdeveloped, and accommodation facilities are limited both in number and in standard. Even when governments commit heavily to upgrading facilities, the outcomes frequently expose deeper structural weaknesses.
Economics and the Weight of Sponsorship
The economics of hosting are equally decisive. Major tournaments like AFCON can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Wealthier economies in the north and south are better positioned to absorb these expenses or to attract the private sponsorship necessary to make such events viable.
In Central Africa, many economies remain heavily resource-dependent and vulnerable to commodity shocks. Allocating vast sums to sports infrastructure is often politically unpopular when essential services such as healthcare and education are underfunded. Moreover, corporate sponsorship—vital for staging international events—tends to cluster around stronger economies such as South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt, which benefit from more developed media markets and established global business links.
Stability is another key factor. For most sporting governing bodies and broadcasters, a tournament is only as successful as its ability to run smoothly without disruption. North Africa and South Africa, despite their own domestic challenges, project a degree of political stability that reassures organisers. Central Africa, however, has struggled in this regard, with countries such as the Central African Republic experiencing prolonged conflict, and the Democratic Republic of Congo facing periodic volatility, particularly in its eastern regions.
In just a few years, Africa has witnessed repeated coups: Mali twice between 2020 and 2021, Guinea in 2021, Sudan in 2021, Burkina Faso twice in 2022, and Niger in 2023. Each brought political transitions, promises of elections, or, in Sudan’s case, outright war. These episodes also raise serious security concerns for governing bodies, broadcasters, and foreign partners. A stable country does not experience coups this frequently, and where they become common within a region, the risks often spill over into neighbouring states.
This reality makes international bodies reluctant to award hosting rights to countries where safety cannot be guaranteed, regardless of their sporting passion or potential. Major sporting events are also powerful vehicles for global image-building.
Nations use them to market themselves as tourist and investment destinations. Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa have long-established tourism industries and enjoy international recognition as gateways to Africa. This makes them “safer bets” not only for CAF, but also for sponsors and broadcasters seeking the assurance of global engagement.
Central Africa, in contrast, has struggled to position itself as a global tourist hub. Limited infrastructure, weaker international branding, and ongoing security challenges reduce the region’s appeal as a destination for hosting.
The way forward is clear. Governments in regions often overlooked for international tournaments must urgently address key structural gaps. This means strengthening security, upgrading infrastructure, improving organisational capacity, expanding transport systems, and modernising road networks and facilities.
By ramping up investment and development in these areas, such nations can reposition themselves as credible and competitive hosts. Doing so would not only improve their chances of securing approval when bidding for competitions, but also generate wider economic benefits—particularly for regions historically marginalised or under-recognised on the global sporting stage.
Morocco has already set the path. With world-class facilities in place, the country has secured a line-up of major events in the coming years, including its role as a joint host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup. For other nations, the message is clear: invest, build, and prepare; Africa’s next generation of sporting powerhouses is waiting to rise.
Tuka Letura is an experienced sports writer with over six years of experience in the craft. He uses data and statistics to provide analysis and commentary. From regional to worldwide competitions, he has covered a wide range of sports-related events and topics. He is devoted to sharing his enthusiasm for sports with his audience and engaging them with interesting anecdotes and viewpoints.