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Friday, 5 April 2013

Kaunda's Ultra Modern Stadium:Yanga wet dreams or a realistic project?




 Young  Africans,popularly corrupted as Yanga  is arguably the most supported and followed club in Sub-saharan Africa when it comes to match attendances. This season alone Young Africans have averaged an attendance of around 14,000 fans .Forget about the super-rich South African giants of Kaizer Chiefs,Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi or the fanatically followed Gor Mahia,when it comes to match attendances Yanga is way ahead. At times Yanga matches attract more fans to the stadium than the national team as witnessed this season. For example, while the national team attracted 32,000 fans for the Morocco game in Dar, Yanga attracted more than 39,000 fans against Azam Fc played at the same venue.Yanga hosted Simba in the first Dar Derby of the season managing to draw in 55,000 fans.

Though Yanga and Simba have polarized Tanzania into two sets historically Yanga  has had more fans than Simba despite both  being equally successfully in the domestic football scene. After over 40 years of begging and surviving on hand outs and dubious promoters and sponsors Yanga want to tap into their huge fan base to construct a 40,000-seat stadium . It is a major step forward that was long due.
As it is often, the devil is in the details, the idea is a noble one but the financial details are too unconvincing. Many of us have questioned the wisdom of constructing a stadium of that capacity considering the costs involved. It will be a miracle to attract a sponsor or get a loan to finance the project. Where will they get the collateral needed to secure a loan? Will tycoon Yusuph Manji dig deep into his pocket to finance the project?
They  have insisted that they will obtain the needed funds from the huge fan base,but will it be enough? Let it be remembered even in the construction of the new national stadium,the Tanzanian government depended on Chinese ‘aid’. Apparently the Chinese government funded the construction of the national stadium to the tune of over $33 million out of the over $56.4 million spent .
To construct a 40,000-seat stadium would probably cost more than $50 million bearing inflation cost and taking a look at a few similar projects in Africa. The 44,000-seat Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Zambia cost around $60 million. Even the 19,000-seat TP Mazembe stadium has been reported to cost over  $35 million. The TP Mazembe stadium was funded by Moise Chapwe Katumbi who  harbors political ambitions as well as having a deeper love for football since childhood than it can be said of  Yusuph Manji.  Katumbi played football  up to his 20s before injury ended his  football career coupled with his political ambitions it is easy to see why he is pumping money into grand projects for TP Mazembe. The club is a fulfillment of his childhood dreams as well as a huge political investment.
Yusuph Manji is no fool who will soon part with his money for such an ambitious project. What has he seen that we have failed to see that has convinced him to fund the project? You do not become a billionaire by making empty statements so we just have to leave it to to him for he is the deal-maker and he seems to know more than  we know though many are still skeptical that the project will be funded by the members and the fans to a greater proportion. A two year project that cost more than $50 million can hardly be funded by fans who pay less than $4 per match and members who collectively contribute less than $1000 per month.

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