Lomé will make sporting history this week as the first-ever CAHB African Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Championships will get underway in the Togo capital.

Running for four days – 24 to 27 April – the event also provides some of the last qualification spots for the upcoming 2026 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships.

The competition in Togo features 10 teams from six nations competing across 36 games, with 20 matches scheduled in the men’s competition and 16 in the women’s event.

The men’s competition consists of six teams: Tunisia, Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Kenya, while the women’s competition features Benin, Togo, Mali and Kenya.

Both competitions see teams play in one round-robin, preliminary group with teams playing each other once in the men’s event, while the women’s competition will see teams play each other twice. After all preliminary group games have been completed, the top two teams in each respective competition group move through to the semi-finals. 

Along with a medal Zagreb, Croatia is the aim

With the winners of each competition confirmed a qualification spot through to the IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Championships in Zagreb, Croatia in June, there is extra incentive for teams in Togo.

And with Egypt’s men - who have qualified for eight previous world championships, winning one, and Tunisia’s women not participating in Lomé, we will see at least one new name at a senior world championship level.

None of the four women’s teams have qualified for a senior world championship yet, and with their strong beach handball league and experience, Kenya look like being one of the favourites to win. In the men’s competition, Tunisia are clear favourites, but the other five teams will push and fight all the way to claim their global prize and grab their chance to make a world championship debut.

Benin aiming for the podium

Benin are fielding both men’s and women’s sides in Togo, the first major competition for both. To prepare for the continental event, the Benin Handball Federation held a further talent identification and evaluation camp in March, followed by a training camp earlier this month, based at Fidjrossè beach in Cotonou.

Their teams will be led by coaches Aimé Sèbio (men) and Léonce Linta (women). “We have entered a phase of overall improvement, both physically and technically, tactically," said Sèbio to local media. 

“The goal is to optimise the automatic processes in attack as well as in defence, while identifying the profiles capable of making an extra contribution in decisive moments. Our objective is to obtain a qualifying spot (for the world championships) whether with one or both teams. We're aiming for the top.”

Women’s captain, Mariama Aminata also confirmed her aim for a podium place. “Everything is in place for us to work well,” she said. “We are clearly aiming for the continental title.”

Ahead of the tournament starting a number of delegates will attend African Handball Confederation (CAHB) referee and delegate courses across two days with the aims of further improving understanding and knowledge as well as bringing through and inspiring the next generation.

All national federations of the CAHB were invited to participate in the workshops, under the motto of ‘Together, let’s build the future of Beach Handball’.

Africa no stranger to prestigious beach handball competitions 

While the continental, standalone championship in Togo is a first for African beach handball, the continent is no stranger to continental and global events.

In 2004, Africa hosted the first ever senior IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships, with the host nation winning the men’s title.

In 2017, the continent was the host for the debut IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships, with Mauritius taking centre stage.

2019 saw the debut of the African Beach Games, which featured beach handball with the second edition coming four years later, in 2023 https://www.ihf.info/media-center/news/tunisia-retain-african-beach-games-titles having followed on the same courts which hosted the first African setting for the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour.

Last year, Tunisia held the 2025 IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships, with the sport also featuring at the 2025 ANOCA African Youth Games in December.

The Mediterranean Beach Games has also seen a number of African beach handball teams since its debut in 2015, Tunisia winning the first men’s title with themselves, Egypt and Morocco competing at the last edition, in 2023.

2026 CAHB Men’s and Women’s African Beach Handball Championship

Men’s competition
Tunisia (TUN), Benin (BEN), Togo (TOG), Cote d’Ivoire (CIV), Mali (MLI), Kenya (KEN)

Women’s competition
Benin, Togo, Mali, Kenya

Match schedule

Friday 24 April

Men’s competition
0800 TUN v BEN, MLI v KEN
1040 TOG v CIV
1530 TUN v CIV, KEN v BEN
1710 TOG v MLI

Women’s competition
0950 TOG v MLI, KEN v BEN
1620 TOG v KEN, MLI v BEN

Saturday 25 April

Men’s competition
0930 TUN v MLI, CIV v BEN
1110 TOG v KEN
1530 TUN v KEN, MLI v CIV
1710 TOG v BEN

Women’s competition
1020 TOG v BEN, KEN v MLI
1620 MLI v TOG, BEN v KEN

Sunday 26 April

Men’s competition
0930 KEN v CIV, MLI v BEN
1110 TOG v TUN
1620 Semi-Final 1
1710 Semi-Final 2

Women’s competition
1020 KEN v TOG, BEN v MLI
1530 BEN v TOG, MLI v KEN

Monday 27 April

Men’s competition
1120 5/6 Placement match
1420 Bronze medal match
1620 Final/gold medal match

Women’s competition
0930 Semi-Final 1
1030 Semi-Final 2
1420 Bronze medal match
1530 Final/gold medal match