Zimbabwe building stadium near scenic Victoria Falls; project funded by ICC

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the President of Zimbabwe, recently laid the foundation stone for an ambitious cricket stadium near Victoria Falls, a tourist hotspot in the country. Once completed, the stadium will arguably become one of the most picturesque cricket venues in the world. To be named the Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium, the 10,000-seater ground will host global events in 2026 and 2027. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will co-host the Under-19 World Cup in 2026 with Namibia, while South Africa will join the two countries to stage the prestigious 2027 World Cup. The Zimbabwean government has allocated 10 hectares of land for the project which, reportedly, will be funded by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The construction is expected to cost between $5 and $10 million, although the ICC has said that no extra funding will be provided for any specific project. The Victoria Falls Stadium will be a multi-sport facility that will reportedly see, rugby, hockey and netball also played there. "The location of this stadium in this city will undoubtedly contribute to the speedy attainment of tourism sector targets and towards our national development aspirations as outlined in the National Development Strategy Vision 2030," President Mnangagwa said while laying the foundation stone. "As Zimbabwe Cricket, we are the first to admit that our stadiums are no longer adequate, we had to lock out some fans during the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers but that's not what we want to do. We want to have as many people to access our grounds and we want their experience to be awesome when they come into the grounds. "So work is already underway and as you are aware, we will be co-hosting the 2027 men's World Cup and before that, we are also hosting the next edition of the Under 19 World Cup together with Namibia, so these are massive tournaments and we are working to improve our facilities for more global tournaments," ZC media and communication manager Darlington Majonga was quoted in the Coliseum website as saying. "Work is progressing very well, a lot of earthmoving has been happening. The levelling of the academy pitch and the main pitch is progressing very well. The facility has been fenced, a site establishment has also been done, boreholes have been drilled, and a water reservoir has also been established. There is good progress so far, we are impressed by what is on the ground," ZC managing director Givemore Makoni was quoted in an FB post recently. Zimbabwean cricket is currently at its lowest point, having failed to qualify for consecutive 50-over World Cups in 2019 and 2023. They also missed out on the recent T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies, having been upended by Uganda, a lesser-known cricketing nation.