The southern African nation of Angola plays hosts to the 2010 African Nations Cup football championship. The competition, which is called CAN2010 in Africa, will be the first major sporting event to be hosted by Angola and is spurring millions of dollars in construction and investment in the country.
The tournament will take place from January 10 – 31, 2010 and four new stadiums are being constructed in Benguela, Lubango, Cabinda and Luanda, the nation’s capital. The final will be held in Luanda’s new 50,000 seat stadium at the end of January. In addition to the new stadiums, thousands of new hotel rooms are being constructed, new housing is going up, airports are being renovated and infrastructure projects are being undertaken.
The tournament is also helping to attract foreign investment to this country, which was hard-hit by a three-decade long civil war that ended in 2002. Hotels have been in short supply since the end of the war, but CAN2010 is helping to drive investment and construction of the much-needed properties. Currently, visitors who stay in Luanda don’t have much of a choice and must pay a lot of money for the available rooms, services and goods. It is hoped that once the tournament is over, more people will visit and make use of the new facilities and prices will come down for everyone.
