CAF president Dr Patrice Motsepe says Morocco’s hosting of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations generated an economic impact of about $1.8 billion for the country.
Motsepe made the revelation while speaking in Tanzania, where he is leading a CAF delegation to assess the country’s infrastructure and preparations ahead of the 2027 AFCON.
Morocco hosted the 2025 tournament, which was staged across December 2025 and January 2026.
According to Motsepe, an assessment conducted by global research and data company Nielsen found that the tournament benefited Morocco’s economy by about $1.8 billion.
“There’s a company, a marketing company called Nielsen. When they did an assessment of the impact on the Moroccan economy of the AFCON 2025, 2026, their assessment was that the economy of Morocco benefited to the value of 1.8 billion dollars.
“1.8 billion dollars from the AFCON that took place in Morocco in December last year and in January this year,” Motsepe said.
He used Morocco’s experience to highlight the wider economic and developmental opportunities that come with hosting AFCON.
Motsepe said the tournament should not be viewed solely as a football competition but also as an opportunity for host nations to develop infrastructure that can serve their populations long after the tournament ends.
“The AFCON is about a celebration of the enormous talent that we have on the continent and to show the rest of the continent the exceptional talent in Tanzania, in Kenya, in Uganda and on the African continent.
“But it’s also about building football infrastructure, making sure that our stadiums are world class and the stadiums will be here to serve our people many years after the AFCON.
“The football pitches, the hotels, the hospitals, the transport.”
He added that AFCON could help drive tourism, economic growth, job creation and investment while strengthening ties between the three East African hosts.
“The AFCON is about also uniting our people, uniting East Africa and making sure that we show the best of African football but also the best of unity, economic development, growth, job creation, investment through football,” he said.
Motsepe is in Tanzania as part of CAF’s ongoing assessment of preparations for the 2027 AFCON, which will be jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
CAF has deployed experts across the three countries to assess stadiums, training facilities, pitches, accommodation, transport and other infrastructure required for the tournament.
