The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has named Media Experts Limited (MEL) and Media Business Solutions UK Ltd (MBS) as the exclusive Free-to-air broadcast rights holders for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and other CAF events up to 2027, starting with ongoing qualification matches across Sub-Saharan Africa.
 
The international partnership brings Africa’s biggest football tournament to 500 million homes on a free-to-access basis in at least 40 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo DRC, Senegal, Angola, and Ethiopia.
 
The 2027 AFCON will be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
 
The appointment follows a competitive invitation to tender launched by CAF in August 2026 for free-to-air and Pay-TV rights across the region. It completes the broadcast picture for the tournament in sub-Saharan Africa alongside the Pay-TV agreement announced earlier this month.   
 
Under the agreement, MEL and MBS will build a network of national and regional free-to-air broadcasters to deliver live coverage of the CAF AFCON tournament to over 500 million households. Free-to-air coverage will be secured in all three host nations – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – and in the continent’s largest football markets, including Nigeria and South Africa.
 
Broadcast partners in each territory will be announced in the coming months.
  
The deal also includes Futsal Africa Cup of Nations 2026, CAF Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations 2026, Africa U-20 Cup of Nations 2027, Africa U-17 Cup of Nations 2027, and Africa U-20 Cup of Nations 2027.
 
The flagship 2027 CAF tournament, African Cup of Nations, which runs from June 19 to July 17 2027, will be the first AFCON co-hosted by three nations and the first staged in East Africa since Ethiopia in 1976.
  
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe said nearly two billion people watched AFCON 2023 (celebrated in 2024) in Côte d’Ivoire. The 2025 edition in Morocco generated a record 3.6 billion viewers worldwide and six billion combined with digital views across social platforms.
 
The Chief Executive Officer of Media Experts Limited, Kunle Falodun, said: “Free-to-air television is where Africa watches its biggest moments together, and AFCON is the biggest football moment we have.

CAF’s decision affirms our belief that the Africa Cup of Nations belongs on every screen, in every home, in every market. For brands and corporate sponsors, it is an opportunity to stand alongside Africa’s most-watched national-team competition with the reach and trust that only free-to-air delivers.”
 
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Media Business Solutions (UK) Ltd, Richard Dimosi Diasolwa, said: “This is a proud day for MBS and a great day for every African football fan. We distributed AFCON 2023 in Côte d’Ivoire and saw first-hand what happens when the tournament reaches every home: streets go quiet, living rooms fill up, and whole nations watch together. Now, with CAF’s trust and alongside our partner MEL, we are going bigger.”