President Kagame hails newly-built 10000-seater Kigali Arena

The outside view of the Arena [Courtesy]

Rwanda President Paul Kagame on Friday, August 9 inaugurated the newly-built Kigali Arena, one of the best sports facilities in Africa.

The 10,000-seater state-of-the-art arena is located next to the country’s iconic Amahoro National Stadium.

Spectators seated in the new arena. [Courtesy]

The arena is a multipurpose facility that will host indoor games, high profile meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and concerts.

According to CGTN Africa, President Kagame hailed Summa Company, a Turkey-based construction firm for completing the work within just six months with labour from within.

 “Summa did good work, night and day and they finished it only in six months with 70 per cent of the workforce being Rwandans,” he said.

He urged his fellow citizens to make use of the new facility.

President Kagame, during his speech at the facility. [Courtesy]

“This arena is not just a decoration to be visited on Christmas and New Year. It was built to host the best basketball players of Rwanda and Africa, for them to train, play and win here,” he said.

The new complex is expected to host 2021 FIBA Men’s Africa Basketball Championship after the country’s bid to host the tournament was accepted in July.

Kagame also demonstrated his basketball skills. [Courtesy]

As Rwandan’s celebrate the birth of a new state of the art facility, Kenyans ought to be gloomy as they wait for the nine stadiums promised by the Jubilee government in 2017.

The Moi International Sports Center Kasarani is the only high capacity facility operating in Nairobi after Nyayo was closed for renovation [Courtesy]

In 2013, the government also pledged to build five stadiums but failed to deliver even a single stadium.

As the years pass, the talk of the new facilities has now gone cold as slow renovations take place at the Nyayo National Stadium while other stadiums around the country remain in deplorable conditions.