The Independence Stadium in Windhoek is one of several stadia that the government is upgrading with the aim of putting sport at the forefront of development.
The executive director of the Ministry of Sport, Erastus Haitengela, in an interview this week said the government is committed to upgrading several stadia within the next few years.
"The president-elect in her manifesto, pledged that sport is a key enabler in Namibia. For too long, we've not done much in sport and that's why she said that we want to make sure that within five years, there must be at least five stadiums of CAF level three standard, which will allow us to play international games and qualifiers," he said.
The Independence Stadium is one of five stadiums earmarked to be developed to CAF Level 3 specifications in the capital, Oshakati and at the coast, while Caf Level 2 stadia are also being developed in Namibia's other regions.
Besides that, there are ongoing negotiations about the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Katutura which can hopefully soon be revived.
Haitengela said that construction on the Independence Stadium upgrade will soon commence.
"We are now looking at the feasibility study with the key stakeholder including the senior, executive minister and deputy minister, and other stakeholders like the NFA and the sports fraternity. Once it has been approved, they can go into the design stage of the stadium itself and when they are finished, we can go to tender," he said, adding that it will be a major upgrade of the exisiting Independence Stadium.
"Even though we said renovation and upgrade, this is really a major upgrade, it's not a renovation anymore, as per the recommendation. Renovation is normally a minor upgrade, but this is a major upgrade, for which we will have to do a lot of demolishing on what is there on site, and a lot of stabilisation on what will remain, so that we can increase the capacity of the stadium to 30 000," he said.
"We are hoping that this process will now move fast so that it can be completed by 2027 at the latest, because it takes two to three years," he added.
Haitengela said the feasibility report had studied several other stadiums being renovated in Africa, including in Tanzania, where the Samia Suluhu Hassan Stadium in Arusha is being upgraded in preparation for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations that Tanzania will co-host with Kenya and Uganda.
"The good thing is that they looked at what other countries are doing, which have had the same challenges as us where their national sport stadiums have been condemned by CAF and Fifa. A good example is Tanzania, who won the bid to host Afcon 2027 along with Kenya and Uganda, but they did not have a CAF Level 3 stadium. They started building their stadium last year, exactly with the same specifications as ours, with the same seating of 30 000 and it costs them US$2.1 billion, so ours will be in the same region," he said.
"If you look at other countries like Rwanda, their upgrade cost them N$2,9 billion, and back home the Ongos Valley Stadium development amounts to about N$2,5 billion. Ongos are raising the funds, but we as government are busy talking to them to see how we can partner with them, because as I said it's a key project and in line with the government's vision," he said.
Haitengela said the ministry is working on reviving the Sam Nujoma Stadium.
"We are busy talking to the City of Windhoek and the NFA, who have got a report on the Sam Nujoma Stadium, for us to work together, to put together the financial resources of our three institutions so that we can renovate the Sam Nujoma Stadium in a very short period of time, because then we can start playing at home," he said.
"It's an ongoing process and it's going at a fast pace - we need to move very fast because as I said the Independence Stadium will take more than two years to complete," he added.
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Besides that the government is also upgrading various stadia throughout the country to meet Caf Level 2 requirements according to Haitengela.
"When we were part of ther BONA Afcon bid, Namibia and Botswana contracted a South African company to do a facility audit, so they came and looked at all our facilities throughout the country. They have already identified five stadia which can be upgraded to Caf Level 3, while we also have Level 2 stadia in all the regional capitals," he said.
"If you go to Ohangweana and Eenhana, that construction has already begun, and if you go to Nkurenkuvu in Kavango West, that is also at an advanced stage," he said.
"We are very busy, we are excited about the number of projects which we need to do and the government is committed to making sure that sport is put at the forefront of development in Namibia," he concluded.
