Uganda Backs Three-Country Single Visa as AFCON 2027 Deadlines Tighten in East Africa
The most important piece of news for travel companies in East Africa is not a stadium. It is a visa. President Yoweri Museveni said on 22 September 2026 that he will speak to his counterparts in Kenya and Tanzania about a single entry visa for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, so that fans, teams, officials and other visitors can move between the three host countries without applying separately in each one.
Museveni spoke at State House Entebbe after receiving a briefing from a delegation of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), led by Secretary General Samson Adamu, and from Uganda's National AFCON Task Force, headed by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja. The CAF team, which included Country Infrastructure Manager Bianca Wambui, had just finished inspecting stadiums, training grounds and other facilities. The tournament begins on 19 June 2027.
For product managers, the visa question decides how much of this business is sellable as a regional package. The existing East Africa Tourist Visa covers Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, but not Tanzania. That means a new or expanded framework is needed before a supporter can buy one permit and follow a team across all three host countries. An earlier government statement said the proposed arrangement would allow movement for about four months without separate entry permits. If that is agreed, three-country itineraries become realistic. If it is not, operators will have to price and process each border crossing on its own.
On the ground, Uganda is entering the difficult part of its preparation. Matches are planned for Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Hoima City Stadium and Akii-Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira. The Local Organising Committee said earlier this month, after a second CAF inspection, that all three venues remain on course for completion by December 2026. Work at Akii-Bua was reported at about 80 per cent, and Hoima at about 95 per cent after CAF asked for extra items. Nine designated training sites were also inspected.
Museveni told agencies to move faster on roads, airport facilities, accommodation and health services, not only on the pitches. Kabalega International Airport in the Hoima area is central to that work, because two of Uganda's three venues sit well outside Kampala. Lira and Hoima are not established long-haul gateways, and lift into upcountry host cities will shape which ticket packages are practical to sell. CAF has separately flagged accommodation and the slow progress on the visa as the main gaps across the Pamoja hosting arrangement, with roughly eight months left.
Accommodation is where many agencies will feel the squeeze first. Room stock in Hoima and Lira is limited compared with Kampala, Nairobi or Dar es Salaam, and teams, officials, media and sponsors take priority. Operators who wait for the draw before contracting beds are likely to find very little left. The same applies to ground transport, guides and domestic air seats during the tournament window.
There is a larger commercial point behind the football. This is the first time the continental championship will be staged across three countries, and it will test whether East Africa can be sold as one destination rather than three separate ones. Tour operators should already be designing add-on products that use the same trip: gorilla tracking and Nile-based activities in Uganda, safari circuits in Kenya and northern Tanzania, beach extensions on the Swahili coast.
Whatever happens on the field, the visa decision and the new airport and road capacity will outlast June 2027. Companies that build regional itineraries now, and that talk to their national tourism boards about how the single-visa rules will actually work at the border, will be the ones holding a ready product when the first fans start booking.
