The event at the Covered Hall Sport Ziaten, due to run until Sunday (February 9), is the last continental championship in Africa before the end of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying process.

At last year’s edition of the Championships, held at Gaborone in Botswana, the medal table was topped by Egypt and Morocco, who each won 11 gold medals.

Both nations made a characteristically strong start to this year’s Championships, at which they have the equal largest teams, numbering 39 karateka.

Egypt’s Jana Kamis won gold in the cadet kata female class, with silver going to Morocco’s Marwa Salmi and bronze to Namibia’s Jewel Slinger.

The cadet kata male gold medal went to the host’s Salah El Mansoury ahead of Hussein Mohamed Hussein of Egypt, with bronze going to Siradiou Diallo of Benin and South Africa’s Alessandro Biagioni.

The junior female kata title went to Egypt’s Shrouk Elhnawy, with silver being claimed by Morocco’s Maryem El Kholti and bronze going to South Africa’s Aimee Harding and Namibia’s Neeldje Swart.

Morocco’s Monaem Maanaqui took the junior male kata title with silver going to Egypt’s Tarek Ramadan and bronzes to Herve Sanou of Burkina Faso and Yanis Tas of Algeria.

The kata team cadet and junior female title went to Egypt, with Morocco second.

The male version also went to Egypt, ahead of Morocco and South Africa.