[1] The stadium is named after Samia Suluhu Hassan, the incumbent president of Tanzania.

The primary purpose of this stadium is to be part of the host stadia that Tanzania will use to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations in a tri-state-host tournament to be held in the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The other Tanzanian stadia are the 60,000 seater Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam and the proposed 32,000 seater Dodoma Stadium in Dodoma.

[3][4] In September 2023, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), announced the East Africa Pamoja bid by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania as the winning bid to host the 2027 AFCON tournament.

[6] The construction contract was awarded to China Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG), a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited (CREC), a Chinese, majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction conglomerate.