Angola, host Tunisia, Senegal, Egypt and Nigeria made it to the last eight at the 2015 edition also played in Tunisia. This year’s competition was originally set to be hosted by Republic of Congo while Angola also passed on the opportunity.
Angola plays Senegal while Egypt takes on Morocco in the opening game on Thursday in an all North African showdown which will be a highly charged game.
Both progressed from the preliminary stage with minimum fuss though Morocco stole the headlines after beating Angola 60-53.
Nigeria will be involved with a game against neighboring country Cameroon while host nation Tunisia plays Democratic Republic of Congo.
Congo beat defending champions Nigeria 83-77 but finished second in the group to set up a meeting against the 2015 bronze medalist.
This means one of the top four countries in the last tournament held in 2015 is on track to win the championship including Nigeria whose back to back title dream is still alive.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
