The agreement, announced in London on 19 October, followed a tender process launched by CAF in August for free-to-air and pay-TV broadcasting rights in the region. It completes the organisation’s broadcast rights arrangements following the announcement of a separate pay-TV agreement earlier in October.
Under the deal, the two companies will establish a network of national and regional broadcasters to deliver coverage to more than 500 million households across at least 40 countries.
The countries expected to receive coverage include Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia.
CAF said free-to-air coverage would be guaranteed in the three co-host nations of the 2027 tournament — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — with the participating broadcast partners expected to be announced in the coming months.
The agreement also includes broadcasting rights for the 2026 Futsal Africa Cup of Nations, the 2026 Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations, and the 2027 Under-17 and Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
The 2027 AFCON is scheduled to take place from 19 June to 17 July 2027, marking the first time the tournament will be jointly hosted by three countries.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will stage the competition, which will also mark the tournament’s return to East Africa for the first time since Ethiopia hosted it in 1976.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has highlighted the competition’s growing global appeal, stating that nearly two billion people watched the 2023 edition in Côte d’Ivoire.
According to the figures cited by CAF, the 2025 tournament in Morocco attracted a record global audience of 3.6 billion viewers. Preliminary research by the continental football governing body also indicated a 61 per cent increase in viewership across Europe, Asia and South America.
The latest broadcast agreement is expected to widen access to the competition by making matches available through free-to-air television networks across the region.
The emphasis on free-to-air coverage reflects the continued importance of accessible television broadcasts to football audiences across Africa.
Data from GeoPoll’s Africa Football Survey 2026 showed that 96 per cent of respondents in Nigeria and Kenya, and 91 per cent in Ghana, followed football.
In Nigeria, 64 per cent of respondents identified free-to-air television as their primary means of watching live football matches.
Media Experts Limited chief executive Kunle Falodun said the arrangement would help ensure that major football events remained accessible to broad audiences.
“Free-to-air television is where Africa watches its biggest moments together, and AFCON is the biggest football moment we have,” Falodun said.
Media Business Solutions chief executive Richard Dimosi Diasolwa also stressed the importance of making the tournament widely accessible across the continent.
He described the ambition as ensuring that the competition would be “free, live and everywhere, from Nairobi to Lagos, from Kinshasa to Johannesburg”.
Following the agreement, Media Experts Limited and Media Business Solutions have invited broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa to explore sublicensing arrangements for the competitions.
The companies have also opened discussions with brands interested in sponsorship and advertising opportunities linked to the tournaments.
The partnership is intended to establish a broad distribution network for CAF competitions, with the 2027 AFCON expected to be a major focus as preparations continue for the historic three-country tournament.
