The Botswana and Namibia Bid Committee for the 36th Africa Cup of Nations in Football underwent an induction and planning meeting on 10th- 11th June 2022, following its launch on Thursday 9th June 2022.
The BONA 2027 Bid Committee is a Team of experts from Botswana and Namibia constituted with the sole purpose of undertaking all the work necessary for Botswana and Namibia to successfully bid for the rights to host the 36th AFCON in 2027.
The Ashford Mamelodi led Committee whose short name is BONA 2027 Bid Committee was taken through its terms of reference, given an overview of the preliminary work done up to that point, and most importantly, received a presentation on what it takes to successfully bid for rights to, and organise a mega sport event like the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Being cognizant that while the AFCON property owners, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has yet to officially launch the bidding process for the 36th edition of their flagship competition, the bidding process would likely not only be truncated but also include stricter requirements than previous editions, BONA 2027 has developed a workplan that would ensure a compelling bid for the AFCON in 2027 is submitted by Botswana and Namibia by the deadline.
“The Governments of the Republic of Botswana and the Republic of Namibia have taken the bold decision to bid to host the biggest football spectacle on the African continent and entrusted us with the momentous and daunting responsibility of delivering that dream; for now, the hosting rights. We understand the enormity of the task and as BONA 2027 Bid Committee members, we have made the solemn commitment that like Winston Churchill, we will offer our “blood, toil, tears and sweat” to deliver the 2027 AFCON hosting rights to our two great nations” said the BONA AFCON 2027 Bid Committee Chairperson Mr. Ashford Mamelodi.
For his part the Vice Chairman of BONA 2027 Bid Committee Mr. John Muinjo stated that the prospects of Botswana and Namibia hosting the AFCON are all of historic, exciting and challenging at the same time. “Historic because we will be the smallest countries in Southern Africa to ever host the competition, exciting because of the limitless opportunities and possibilities the competition would present to the development of our countries and challenging in that our ability to deliver mega projects on time, successfully execute plans and host tens of thousands of people will be put to the test” Muinjo said.
Meanwhile, for improved engagement with the media, the BONA 2017 Bid Committee has appointed Tuelo Daniel Serufho as its official spokesperson while Irvine Ndjavera will be the spokesperson in Namibia.