Kenya’s national women’s football team, the Harambee Starlets, is guaranteed a financial windfall of USD 150,000 (approximately Sh19.5 million) simply for qualifying for the 2026 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced a record-breaking prize fund for the 16-team tournament, increasing the total pool by 67 percent from USD 3.475 million to USD 5.8 million as part of its ongoing investment in African women’s football.
Under the newly unveiled financial structure, participating nations and top-performing teams stand to earn significantly larger rewards: the winners will bag USD 2 million (approximately Sh258 million), representing a 100% doubling of the winners’ prize money.
The runners up will contend with USD 750,000 (approximately Sh98.67 million), while the second runners up will walk away with USD 500,000 (approximately Sh64.6 million).
All other participating teams are guaranteed USD 150,000 guaranteed for each of the 16 qualified nations, marking a 20 percent increase from the USD 125,000 awarded at the previous tournament.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe noted that under the current administration, the tournament’s overall prize fund has surged by 495 percent (from USD 975,000 to USD 5.8 million), while the champions’ prize has risen by an astounding 900 percent from USD 200,000.
Task ahead
The lucrative financial boost comes as head coach Beldine Odemba’s squad prepares for a challenging Group A campaign.
The Harambee Starlets have been drawn alongside host Morocco in the opening fixture, Senegal and Algeria in second and final match respectively.
After spending the past few days fine-tuning their preparations in a training camp in France, the team flew to Morocco on Wednesday evening to complete their final build-up ahead of the tournament kick-off on Sunday.
