Nairobi is set to get a new 10,000-seater indoor arena in a $294.5 million (Ksh38.2 billion) project backed by Pan-African investment firm Zaria Group and US-based Helios Sports & Entertainment Group.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Zaria Group, which was co-founded by Masai Ujiri, President of the Dallas Mavericks, a U.S.-based NBA basketball team, plans to develop the multipurpose facility at Nairobi Railway City under a long-term lease agreement with Kenya Railways.

According to regulatory filings cited by Bloomberg , the arena will host sporting events, concerts, conferences and cultural programmes, forming part of a wider mixed-use entertainment district.

The partners have signed a long-term lease agreement with Kenya Railways for land in central Nairobi where the development will be built.

📌 What You Need to Know

The project is expected to anchor a wider sports and entertainment hub within the Nairobi Railway City urban renewal plan, which seeks to create a mixed-use district around the city's Central Railway Station.

The proposed arena will have capacity for 10,000 people and is expected to host basketball tournaments, international music tours, Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events, and other cultural programmes.

The developers have projected that the wider project will create about 3,500 direct construction jobs and 1,500 permanent positions once operational.

They have also estimated that events hosted at the facility could generate up to 25,000 temporary jobs annually across sectors including hospitality, retail and live production.

The investment forms part of a strategy by the partners to develop and operate sports and entertainment facilities in major African cities.

The group has already developed Zaria Court Kigali, a $26 million (Ksh3.37 billion) mixed-use development in Rwanda, alongside its involvement in the management and commercialisation of the 10,000-seat BK Arena and Amahoro Stadium.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke