The football may still be months away, but in Bunyoro, the AFCON 2027 countdown is already being measured in beds, buildings and deadlines. President Yoweri Museveni has directed the African Development Bank (AfDB) to immediately release Shs102 billion to support hotel development and refurbishment in the region as Uganda prepares to host the Africa Cup of Nations alongside Kenya and Tanzania. The intervention comes after hoteliers raised concerns over delayed financing, with some reportedly using personal resources to keep construction and renovation works moving.
The financing package, structured mainly as a concessionary loan at five per cent interest through Uganda Development Bank (UDB), is designed to expand the hospitality infrastructure around the tournament’s Bunyoro hub. Of the Shs102 billion, Shs52 billion is earmarked for a new 100-bed five-star hotel near Hoima Stadium and Kabalega International Airport, while Shs30 billion will support upgrades to existing hotels and another Shs20 billion will cater for other qualifying hospitality and leisure facilities.
For Bunyoro, the stakes extend beyond putting up new buildings before the opening whistle. Hoima is among Uganda’s designated AFCON 2027 host locations, with the newly constructed 20,000-capacity Hoima City Stadium expected to become a major gathering point for players, officials, journalists and travelling supporters. The reported US$129 million stadium investment has already transformed the city’s sporting landscape; the hospitality expansion now seeks to ensure that the infrastructure around the pitch can withstand the continental traffic that comes with a major tournament.
The timetable, however, leaves little room for construction delays. Hoteliers are targeting completion of major works by March 2027, testing and final preparations in April, and operational readiness to receive visitors between May and June. That schedule places financing, construction quality and project coordination firmly under the spotlight, because an international tournament tests more than stadiums—it tests accommodation, transport, services and the wider capacity of a host city to welcome thousands of visitors simultaneously.
AFCON 2027 could therefore become Bunyoro’s hospitality audition before the continent, with the Shs102 billion package providing the financial push behind the final preparations. If the projects meet their deadlines, Hoima’s tournament legacy could extend well beyond the last match: new accommodation capacity, stronger tourism infrastructure and a hospitality sector positioned to serve visitors long after the football caravan has moved on. The pitch will host the spectacle, but the hotels will host the people who make the spectacle possible.
