Hosting a tournament can be excellent; particularly on the financial side. Tourism can really help a country with an injection of money. It's because of this that countries will fight it out to win the rights.
Botswana was a contender to host the 2028 African Cup Of Nations (AFCON). They have subsequently withdrawn their interest.
Botswana, Africa’s diamond powerhouse and one of the world’s biggest producers of rough diamonds, has pulled out of a joint bid with South Africa and Zimbabwe to host the 2028 AFCON after the government declined to provide the financial guarantee required for the tournament.
Sources cited by Botswana newspaper, Mmegi, said the government viewed hosting AFCON as not being a priority amid financial constraints; while football authorities regarded the withdrawal as a missed opportunity because the cost and hosting responsibilities would have been shared across three countries.
"There is disappointment because this was a good opportunity to host, given that the hosting load would have been shared among three countries," a source told Mmegi.
Botswana’s withdrawal means South Africa and Zimbabwe will now continue the hosting process with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), after Botswana failed to submit the required bidding documents before the 14 September 2026 deadline.
The country had previously made an unsuccessful bid for the 2027 AFCON, with hosting rights eventually awarded to the joint East African bid of Tanzania; Kenya and Uganda.
The decision comes as Botswana grapples with a prolonged downturn in the global diamond market. Diamonds typically account for about one-third of government revenue and three-quarters of the country’s foreign-exchange earnings, according to Reuters.
The African Development Bank has also warned that falling diamond exports have weakened Botswana’s growth, fiscal balances and external position; contributing to widening fiscal deficits, declining foreign-exchange reserves and rising public debt.
The scale of the industry's slowdown is visible in production figures. De Beers reported that Botswana's rough-diamond production fell 16% in 2025 to 15.1 million carats; from 17.9 million carats a year earlier. Fourth-quarter production plunged 56% year-on-year to 1.88 million carats, partly because of maintenance shutdowns at the Jwaneng and Orapa mines.
Botswana's fiscal position has improved from the government's original 2026/27 forecast but remains under pressure. Finance Minister Ndaba Gaolathe said in September that the projected budget deficit had been revised down to P9.26 billion or 3.1% of GDP, from P26.35 billion or 8.9% of GDP; projected in February.
He, nevertheless, warned that containing expenditure remained critical because structural fiscal pressures had not disappeared.
Hosting even part of AFCON could've given Botswana an opportunity to channel thousands of visitors into its tourism and services economy while showcasing the country to a global audience.
The 2023 tournament in Côte d’Ivoire generated an estimated $1.52 billion in local economic impact; with $86.5 million in retail and tourism revenue and more than 1.2 million stadium attendees.
Botswana wouldn't necessarily have captured anything close to that amount because its role would've been smaller and shared with South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The three-country structure also meant the country could potentially capture tourism, hospitality and business benefits without bearing the entire cost of hosting a 24-team tournament.
Earlier this year, CAF invited its member associations — representing 54 African countries — to submit bids to host AFCON 2028, 2032 and 2036.
It is understood that COSAFA leadership pushed for a unified Southern African bid to bring the tournament back to the region; which has not hosted AFCON since South Africa in 2013.
The primary motivation is said to have been burden-sharing — distributing stadium infrastructure requirements, operational costs and hosting logistics across multiple member associations so that individual nations wouldn't have to shoulder the heavy financial load alone.
The Botswana Football Association are said to have previously argued that the financial guarantee wasn't mandatory at the initial stage of the bidding process; with the government's decision ultimately bringing an end to the competition that could have been hosted across three nations.
The decision ultimately lies with CAF, as the body for football on the continent will determine which country or joint bid will host the 2028 edition.
What remains is an evaluatoin regarding the ability of the remaining two countries — South Africa and Zimbabwe — to complete the process.
It's hard to believe a country backing out of hosting rights. It could really have helped them from a financial perspective. It could've healed the pains of the downfall of the economy.
I believe Botswana should've stayed in the race.