One can’t help feeling the infectious national pride in the raging debate in Kigali about the economic value of its ‘sports city’, the Remera precinct that hosts the redeveloped Amahoro Stadium, BK Arena and Zaria Court, a mixed-use complex featuring an 80-room hotel, a five-a-side soccer pitch, a sports bar, and retail space. ALSO READ: Rwanda’s new sports city sets pace for urban growth and creative economies in Africa A commentary in The New Times captures the essence of it, highlighting a lament that sparked the debate about perceived lack of economic activity around the sports city. The commentary compared it with the bustling shopping and entertainment arcades around sports complexes in America and Europe. ALSO READ: Govt eyes Rwf30bn from sports tourism by 2029 The concern is not without merit. Except that it also highlights a blind spot about what is really happening at the precinct. There is much going on at the sports complex that is not immediately visible, as laid bare at the 2025 SportsBiz Africa (SBA) Forum, an annual event in Kigali. ALSO READ: Zaria Court: From a symbol of war to a top recreational hub A presentation by QA Venue Solutions, the management arm of Zaria Group Limited, which operates the stadium, the court and BK Arena, explained what had happened in exactly 1,008 days – from the date the firm assumed management to the day of the SBA Forum. In that period, the venue hosted 350 events, effectively one event every three days, Kyle Schofield, a director with Zaria Group, told the SBA Policymakers Roundtable. The number of events has since increased to 180 annually, nearly one event every two days, according to QA Venue Solutions Managing Director, Guy Hedderwick, in the interview on The Context, a flagship podcast and current affairs programme by The New Times. The Policymakers Roundtable is a prime segment of the SBA Forum in collaboration with the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) and Rwanda’s Ministry of Sports. It convenes Africa’s ministers and government representatives, development organisations, investors, and business and thought leaders in the continent’s sports industry. What often goes unnoticed, Kyle explained to the roundtable, is the scale of economic activity behind each event. ‘When a high-level event is held, you already have 2,500 people there not to attend the event, but as part of its development and delivery,’ he noted, pointing to the significant employment generated across event production, logistics, and operations. The venue, he said, had 102 permanent employees at the time but created over 15,000 semi-permanent jobs annually. The cumulative economic impact exceeded $50 million, measured not only through ticket sales, but also through spending across transport services, technical supply chains and hotels. Some of the major headline events during that one-thousand-day period included the FIFA Congress, which generated significant returns. Basketball Africa League and the Giants of Africa Games, an initiative of Zaria Group, also made notable earning contributions, as did the FIA Awards by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the organisers of Formula 1. And that is not to mention a substantial naming rights deal attached to that venue that combines cash and infrastructure improvements. “We live by a live-work-play mantra,” Kyle explained, describing his firm’s work toward an integrated model where sports and entertainment infrastructure anchor broader urban and economic development. Yet infrastructure alone is not enough. Sustained returns require structured programming and deliberate actuation. The $27 million Zaria Court, launched in July 2025, was built because the market data justified the investment. Combining it with the stadium and the arena in the same locality addresses a long-standing challenge of underutilisation of sports infrastructure across Africa, which Kigali sports city showed in those 1,008 days and continues to illustrate with the consistent economic value generated. “Sports and entertainment infrastructure is infrastructure,” Kyle asserted to the rapt policymakers, as vital to a nation’s GDP as a highway or an airport. Many African countries still lag in infrastructure while it can be a spur for economic development. Rwanda, he suggested, offers a case study, even as it seeks to grow and invest further. But it also shows how enlightened sports policy may not always be visible, despite effective implementation. In that context, Kigali’s sports city should not be judged against the American and European sports complexes, but on the trajectory it represents. As Kyle put it, “we can develop an entire city around sports and entertainment – residential areas, workspaces, and sporting facilities. Everything that defines a city can be built on the back of this ecosystem.” This is already happening, as implemented by the government under Kigali Master Plan 2050. The writer is a commentator on development issues in Africa.
