Fifty-two years after last hosting the Africa Cup of Nations, Ethiopia has officially entered the race to organize the 2028 edition of the tournament. The Ethiopian Football Federation submitted its bid to the Confederation of African Football on Monday, August 24, with the backing of the federal government, marking the return of a founding member of the continental body to the competition for hosting its biggest sporting event.
This project did not appear overnight. Addis Ababa had already signaled interest earlier in the year, though it was initially eyeing the 2029 edition rather than 2028. It was CAF’s decision to restructure its calendar, shifting the tournament to a four year cycle starting with that edition instead of the two year rhythm used until now, that prompted Ethiopian authorities to revise their plans and position themselves directly for 2028.
The country’s history with AFCON, however, is anything but recent. Ethiopia has already hosted the tournament three times, in 1962, 1968 and 1976, the year marking its most recent turn as host. As a founding member of the Confederation of African Football, the country holds a distinctive place in the history of the continental game, even if its recent sporting results have been more modest. The second most populous nation in Africa with 135 million people, Ethiopia currently sits only 143rd out of 211 in the FIFA rankings, and its last appearance at a final tournament dates back to 2021, when the national team was eliminated in the group stage.
On the political front, Ethiopian sporting authorities have made no secret of the state’s backing for this bid. Bahiru Tilahun, secretary general of the Ethiopian Football League, explained that the bid reflects political will at the highest level of government to bring this major continental event back to the country for the first time in more than half a century. An official guarantee from the federal government accompanies the file submitted to CAF, meant to reassure the continental body about the strength of the project.
Still, the road ahead looks anything but smooth. The first obstacle is geographic: the 2027 edition, which immediately precedes the one Ethiopia is targeting, will already be hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, three countries from the same East African region. Since CAF generally seeks to spread hosting duties across the continent’s different regions, this could work against Addis Ababa’s chances. The second, more sensitive obstacle concerns security, which remains fragile in several parts of the country. Clashes continue between federal forces and armed groups in the Amhara and Oromia regions, while the situation in Tigray remains tense. These are all factors CAF will need to weigh carefully, alongside more technical criteria such as the quality of sporting infrastructure, hotel capacity, transport networks and the financial guarantees offered by each candidate.
Ethiopia will not be alone at the starting line either. According to multiple consistent reports, a joint bid between South Africa and Botswana is also expected for the same edition, while Egypt and Morocco are among the other countries regularly mentioned as potential contenders. CAF has in fact chosen to open the bidding process for three consecutive editions at once, covering 2028, 2032 and 2036, giving interested countries long term visibility into the process.
Beyond the purely sporting stakes, success in this bid would carry deep symbolic weight for Addis Ababa. The country would reclaim a tournament it helped build from its earliest editions, while placing East Africa at the center of continental football for two consecutive editions, immediately following Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania’s turn in 2027. Should it succeed, half a century of waiting could turn into nothing short of a footballing renaissance for the entire eastern part of the continent.
