The first African championships were held in August 1979 and took place at the Demba Diop Stadium in Dakar. The following eight editions were held irregularly throughout the 1980s until 1993, including three editions held in subsequent years (in 1988, 1989 and 1990). The current biennial format was adopted after the tenth edition held in 1996 in Yaoundé. The championships are now held on even years, and are always held in the same year as the Olympic Games. The most recent edition was held in June 2016 in Durban at the Kings Park Stadium, less than two months prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics. The next African Championships will be held in Lagos in 2018.
Women have contested events at the African Championships since its inaugural edition in 1979, which included 16 events open to women. Over the years, some events have been added or discontinued, resulting in a total of 22 women's events in 2016, equalling the number of men's events at the Championships and mirroring the Olympic programme in all but one (women's marathon, which was permanently added to the Olympics in 1984, but was never introduced at the African Championships).
Throughout the history of African Championships, four previously held women's events have been discontinued: