The first African Chess Championship was played in 1998. Ibrahim Hasan Labib and Mohamed Tissir both shared first place with 7/10, but the former took the title.
The 2007 championship was the FIDE Zone 4 qualifier for the Chess World Cup 2007, the next stage in the 2009 World Championship. Six players qualified for the 2007 World Cup: IM Robert Gwaze (Zimbabwe), IM Pedro Aderito (Angola), IM Essam El Gindy (Egypt), GM Bassem Amin (Egypt), GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt), and FM Khaled Abdel Razik (Egypt).[1]
| Year | City | Winner | Women's winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Cairo | Ibrahim Hasan Labib (Egypt) | |
| 2001 | Cairo | Hichem Hamdouchi (Morocco) | Asma Houli (Algeria) |
| 2003 | Abuja | Essam El-Gindy (Egypt) | Farida Arouche (Algeria) |
| 2005 | Lusaka | Ahmed Adly (Egypt) | Tuduetso Sabure (Botswana) |
| 2007 | Windhoek | Robert Gwaze (Zimbabwe) | Mona Khaled (Egypt) |