Kenya hires Dutch company to advise on stadium construction

Kenya has hired a Dutch consulting firm to advise on the development of three large-capacity stadiums meant to help East Africa’s largest economy tap into sports tourism by hosting international tournaments.

Sports Kenya has engaged The Stadium Consultancy as the project managers to oversee the building of the three stadiums to be located in Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret.

Work on the three sports complexes to be built under a under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model is expected to begin next year.

The Netherlands-based consultancy has proposed a model where the new stadiums will also have luxury hotels, shopping malls and office complexes – a strategy to diversify revenue sources for the sports facilities.

“The robust and efficient stadium design will minimise the operational expenses while maximising the income on match and event days,” reads the project brief seen by the Business Daily.

“The emphasis lies on supplementing leisure and entertainment that can draw large crowds on non-match days as well.”

The Stadium Consultancy is currently undertaking development of sports facilities in Netherlands, Qatar, India, Italy, Russia and Ireland. The consortium advising on the stadiums project also includes auditing firm PKF Kenya (financial consultants), Polish firm JSK Architects and S.S. Malonza & Co. Advocates (legal).

The Jubilee Coalition made a pre-election promise to build five new national sports stadiums in Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Garissa – each with a capacity to host athletics, football and rugby games.

The UhuRuto team also pledged to upgrade existing sporting facilities at the county level to host additional disciplines such as swimming, tennis, basketball and rugby.

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich allocated Sports Kenya Sh1.8 billion in this year’s budget towards financing the building of the three stadiums.

“We expect the Ministry of Sports, Culture and the Arts to utilise this allocation efficiently by employing modern technologies of construction to deliver on this service,” said Mr Rotich.

Kenya has two national stadiums with a joint capacity of 90,000 people – Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani (60,000) and Nyayo (30,000) – both in Nairobi.

The proposed stadium in Nairobi will be located off Ngong Road, close to Jamhuri Park on a plot of land measuring about 87 acres. It will have a seating capacity of 44,000.

The planned Jamhuri stadium will also have 23,000 square metres of commercial space featuring a medical centre, rugby museum, retail shops, hotels, office park and residential apartments.

“The emphasis lies on supplementing leisure and entertainment that can draw large crowds on non-match days as well,” says the concept paper.

In Mombasa, the upcoming sports complex will sit on an 82-acre property owned by Shimo La Tewa Secondary School.