The Executive Committee of the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) will from next year organize qualifiers for youth competitions on zonal basis.
This follows a resolution adopted at the Symposium on African football held in Rabat, Morocco, in July, this year.

Each zone is therefore expected to present a budget proposal and format to CAF for qualifiers by the end of October.

A statement from the secretariat of CAF said, the initiative is also to allow CAF to benefit from Union of European Football Association (UEFA), of which the former is bounded by a memorandum of understanding signed between the two.

According to the statement, a tournament will be organized in 2018, which will be sanctioned by the qualification of the country representing the zone.

Each of the six zones will qualify a team for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), whilst the titleholder will qualify an additional team.

In all seven countries will then join Tanzania for the final tournament.