China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has begun work on a 60,000-seat stadium in Nairobi, Kenyan broadcaster NYT reports.

The Talanta Sports City will be one of the main venues for the 2027 African Cup of Nations football tournament.

CRBC is carrying out the work on an engineering, procurement, construction basis, and aims to complete it in 20 months.

Ababu Namwamba, Kenya’s sports minister, appointed the Kenyan Defence Forces to manage the project in September last year, and President William Ruto said he would personally inspect the project to check that its workmanship was flawless.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Ruto said: “I have agreed with the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Defence that this stadium will be built to world-class standards with military discipline. I will therefore expect our defence team to ensure that all the timelines we have agreed are met by the contractor.

“I also expect that there will be weekly and bi-weekly supervision and I will be here myself every three months until this facility is completed.”

Namwamba added: “Unlike the rest of the stadiums in the country, Talanta Sports City’s design will be a compact layout aimed at enhancing the electric atmosphere, providing Kenyan teams with a distinct advantage in every home game.”

The stadium, the first project of its type to be built in Kenya since the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani. This was completed in 1987 and hosted the All-Africa Games.

The ground will be able to stage football and rugby matches, and music concerts.

A video of the groundbreaking ceremony can be seen here.