Bayern Munich's Kenya friendly highlights Africa's growing pull for global sport

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are to travel to Nairobi, Kenya during the winter break to play a friendly that opens the newly finished Raila Odinga International Stadium in the capital city. The German side will face Ajax Amsterdam as the game acts as part of the country's preparations for the 2027 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be held in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania next summer.

"Bayern has millions of fantastic fans in Africa with whom we feel a close connection – it's a continent with a huge passion for football," Rouven Kasper, Bayern board member for marketing and sales, said in a club statement.

"We will be making a further contribution to raising the profile of the Bundesliga and are very much looking forward to this special event."

The news is just the latest venture into global sports investing in Africa. Earlier this month, Formula 1 announced it was returning to the continent after Rwanda secured the rights for a deal from the early 2030s onwards. In September, World Athletics revealed Nairobi would host the World Championships in 2029. It will be the first time the event has been held in Africa.

Simon Chadwick, a business management and program director at the African School of Economics, believes that over the last two decades the professionalization and industrialization of sports has begun to emerge in Africa.

"Countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Morocco and obviously, South Africa, if we go back to the last decade of the previous century, have increasingly begun to deploy sport as a policy instrument," Chadwick told DW, adding Senegal and Egypt to the list.

"There are these image and reputational benefits which very often are bundled up as soft power. It's about attractiveness and appeal and engagement," said Chadwick.

"It's almost like a kind of professionalization, industrialization and politicization of sport that we're seeing elsewhere in the world has now arrived in Africa. We are seeing a much greater sense of kind of self-determination within Africa to do this," he added.

"This is not just about sport. It is also about diplomacy and bilateral trade, but also about the broader economic and industrial context within which sport sits."

For Kenya specifically, the building of the stadium is in line with the housing and sports infrastructural development that has been so heavily promoted under President William Ruto. Hosting this game is a symbol of the development currently happening in Nairobi.

"The bigger picture is that Nairobi now is positioning itself as a as an alternative sports venue," Richard Wanjohi, Editorial and Research Lead at the African Sports and Creative Institute (ASCI), told DW.

"I think we have seen what Kigali has done over the last number of years. For us to then come back into this conversation as a major city that can host such an event, it's huge. A few weeks later, we'll have the rugby sevens series again and then ultimately, the Africa Cup of Nations in July."

Chadwick believes that unlike Rwanda, Kenya's relative stability and pre-existing tourist industry allows for a more natural development of sports investment.

"This is not Kenya trying to build a tourism industry through an engagement in sport. I think it's an extension of what Kenya has been doing for a number of years through sport."

Combined with being a multi-sport country - athletics, rugby, football, volleyball – Wanjohi believes Kenya is ready to make the most of that performance on the field or track.

"It's about time that we also host the world and show them that we can do this from a hosting perspective, but also from developing infrastructure that is ready to host such sports events," Wanjohi said.

"It's beyond just saying that we have the talent that is already in the sport, but it's saying that we have the infrastructure, we have the skills, we have the capability to host this as any other African, if not global nation."

However, Ruto's government has been criticized over taxation, unemployment and its handling of dissent. Given that this stadium cost approximately €375 million ($418 million), it is perhaps no surprise that questions are being asked about the decision to invest in major sports infrastructure.

"People are asking, we are a struggling economy. There are a lot of other issues that could be addressed, like the education sector, health and all that. How did we get that money and be able to make that provision? Also interestingly, is that there's an appearance fee that is going to be paid to both Bayern and Ajax," said Wanjohi, who added there was also some frustration that the opening game was not given to local teams or even the national side.

Ultimately, the timing of this also matters. While many sports fans in the country are excited, others are critical.

"The government knows that this is almost like a campaign tool. We have an election coming up in August next year so the government or the president of the day obviously wants to use as much leverage of such an event to milk it for all it's worth," Wanjohi added.

"So the two different schools of thought are: It's a good thing to have, but at what cost are we doing it at and is it in the public interest as well?"

The proof will be in what the legacy of events like Bayern Munich's friendly in Nairobi brings Kenyan football. The feeling in late 2026 though, is largely optimistic.

"I guess the acid test is that many African nations carry with them the baggage from the past that this is just trophy asset investment that is ultimately going to create white, white elephant infrastructure," Chadwick said.

"But having spoken to people in Kenyan sport, in the industry itself, it seems to me that there is a genuine appetite for sports to become a genuine and legitimate driver of economic activity."

Janek Speight contributed reporting for this article.