Dar Es Salaam — Back in 2000 former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa promised the Tanzanian people a state-of-the art stadium that would be a pride to the nation.

However, many doubting Thomases sprung up and spread the word that it was just another political pronunciation typical of modern African leaders.

Just last week, the 60,000 seater Benjamin Mkapa Olympic stadium (pictured) that cost a whopping $56m was handed over to the Tanzanian government by the Chinese Contractors Beijing Construction Engineering Company Ltd. The structure cost TSh56.4bn; Tanzania contributing TSh25bn and China Tsh29bn.

However, it's not yet time to pop the champagne as it won't host any international fixture until September when the Taifa Stars face Mozambique in a do-or-die 2008 Nations Cup cracker.

Initially, Spanish champions Real Madrid were to open the stadium after President Jakaya Kikwete visited Spain last September but a delay in completion disabled their travelling to Tanzania. The national stadium that has taken two years to construct is the most picturesque stadium in the region built using the best technology.

The contractors say that it can at least take 30 years before any kind of maintenance is administered. Even the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was awed by the magnificent stadium when he visited Dar es Salaam last month.

Uganda's Nelson Mandela Stadium located about 7km east of Kampala has a capacity of 45,202 people. It was constructed with a Chinese grant of $36m.

In Kenya, Moi International Centre Kasarani also holds 60,000 people but in terms of features, the Mkapa Stadium ranks way up the ladder. The Stade Amahoro in Rwanda seats just 10,000 people.

The Mkapa stadium's features that any eye on this world wouldn't miss catching is the roof that extends inwards to cover seats up to the halfway line, 114 CCTV cameras, escalators that lead one to a lavish VIP lounge and a 600 car parking lot.

In order to keep the new stadium running as a profit-making entity, government is going to place it under custody of a private company.