Uganda Just Waived Visas for AFCON 2027 — What That Means for Your Trip
Uganda has waived visa fees for a window around AFCON 2027. Here's what's actually confirmed, what's still proposed, and how to plan around it.
If you're weighing whether to add Uganda to your AFCON 2027 trip, there's a genuinely useful piece of news worth knowing about: Uganda has announced a visa-fee waiver covering the period from May through August 2027, timed to line up with the tournament. For travelers who might otherwise have skipped Uganda's leg of the "Pamoja" tournament over visa cost and hassle, that removes a real barrier.
It's worth being precise about what this covers and what it doesn't. A fee waiver typically means you still need to apply through Uganda's normal e-visa system and still need a valid passport with the usual entry requirements — it just removes the cost during that window. Always check Uganda's official immigration portal directly before you travel, since implementation details for tournament-specific waivers tend to firm up closer to the date.
You may also see mentions of a proposed single "Pamoja visa" that would let travelers move between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda on one visa for the duration of the tournament — similar in spirit to the East Africa Tourist Visa that already exists between Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. As of now, this is a proposal under discussion by the host nations, not a confirmed, finalized policy. If it does go through, it would be a significant simplification for anyone planning to follow matches across more than one host country. Until it's officially confirmed, plan your trip assuming you'll need to handle each country's entry requirements separately, and treat a unified visa as a pleasant bonus if it materializes rather than something to build your itinerary around.
Uganda's own AFCON venues — Hoima City Stadium, Mandela National Stadium at Namboole, and Akii-Bua Stadium — sit near some of the country's best-known draws for travelers extending their trip beyond football, including gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a subject we cover in a companion piece on combining a Uganda matchday with a trek.
Whichever route you take across the three host countries, a working knowledge of arrival and immigration phrases in Swahili is useful well beyond Tanzania and Kenya — Swahili is also widely understood in parts of Uganda, especially around Kampala. The Airport & Immigration pack in Swahili Survival Kit now includes phrases specifically for tournament travelers, like explaining you're in the country for a match and have a ticket to show.