By Dailymailuganda.com
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has opened a registration process for prospects suppliers of goods and services ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations tournament (AFCON) with Uganda’s Local Organizing Committee (LOC) urging businesses across Africa to submit their details for consideration in future tenders.
Addressing in a press briefing at Uganda Media today, Dr. Dennis Mugimba, Chairperson of the Communications and Signage Subcommittee of Uganda’s AFCON 2027 Local Organizing Committee, said CAF had issued a Request for Information (RFI) to build a database of prospective suppliers before formal procurement begins.
“The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) as an invitation to potential service providers across Africa for inclusion in CAF’s database of prospective suppliers in anticipation of the forthcoming AFCON 2027 tenders,” Dr. Mugimba said.
He said only firms that complete and submit the RFI through CAF’s official tender portal, CAF Online, will be notified by email when tenders are released.
“Possible suppliers who do not submit their RFI profiles prior to publication of the respective tenders will not be eligible for consideration,” he said.
CAF is seeking information from suppliers in at least 15 categories, including catering, ticketing solutions, translation, communications, digital services, broadcasting, hotels and accommodation, hospitality programmers, transportation and logistics, event operations, fan zone management, information technology, branding and signage, concession management and general supplies.
Mugimba also said the RFI is intended solely for market mapping and does not constitute a tender, request for proposal or request for quotation.
“This Request for Information is being issued for purposes of market-mapping only and does not constitute an invitation to tender, request for proposal, request for quotation, or any commitment by CAF or the LOC to procure goods or services,” he said.
He added that CAF is not charging any fees to participate in the registration exercise.
The AFCON communications boss clarified that the current process concerns procurement by CAF and not by Uganda’s Local Organizing Committee.
“At an appropriate time, the LOC shall issue its own call for information for services and goods to be executed exclusively in Uganda in accordance with CAF’s Procurement Policy,” he said.
The tournament, which will be jointly hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania under the “PAMOJA” banner, is expected to trigger strong demand for accommodation and tourism services.
Mugimba urged owners of hotels, hostels, apartments, guest houses and private homes to consult the Uganda Tourism Board on accreditation requirements for hosting visitors during the tournament.
“This is the right time for homeowners and proprietors of prospective tourist private accommodation facilities such as apartments and hostels, who would like to offer tourist accommodation services such as Airbnb or Booking.com, to find out more information on how to attain listing as a service provider,” he said.
He noted that the LOC has recommended a shortlist of up to 12 hotels in the Hoima-Masindi cluster to the Uganda Development Bank for possible financing under a government credit facility to support upgrades.
“Once the due process with the UDB is concluded, the beneficiary hotels shall be made known to the public for accountability,” Mugimba said.
On infrastructure preparations, Mugimba said work was progressing on Akii-Bua Stadium, Mandela National Stadium and Hoima City Stadium.
He said all training facilities except FUFA Kadiba Stadium and Sir Tito Winyi Secondary School Grounds had already been handed over to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Civil Engineering Brigade.
Contracts for upgrades to Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Masindi General Hospital and Buseruka Health Centre III, as well as road works around Hoima City Stadium and Namboole, have been identified and are expected to be concluded soon, Mugimba said