"It is really good for the modern track era to have these championships and for Africa to have their own continental championships that double up as World Champs and Olympic qualifiers," director of World Cycling Centre in Africa JP van Zyl said.

"We as a continent have lacked representation at these events so it is important that we provide riders with the opportunity to succeed."

The four-day event will see nine nations taking part as Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Djibouti are all sending riders to the event.

The championships have also been opened up to UCI registered teams, national teams, provincial teams as well as cycling clubs in order to give as many cyclists as possible the opportunity to compete at continental level.

South Africa's premier track cyclist and Team Abantu ace Nolan Hoffman will be representing South Africa while the women's charge will be led by track national champion Maroesjka Matthee.

Para-cycling has also been included and para-track rider Roxy Burns has confirmed she will be taking part as she prepares for the Para-Track World Championships in March in the Netherlands.