It serves as the African qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

In 1985, FIFA created a World Cup tournament for players under 17 years of age, but CAF organized a knock-out home-and-away qualification competition so as to qualify participants there.

On 6 August 2015, the CAF Executive Committee decided to change the tournament's name to the Africa U-17 Cup of Nations.

[1] On 21 July 2016, French energy and petroleum giant TotalEnergies (formerly Total S.A) secured an 8-year sponsorship package from CAF to support its competitions.

It would have been in effect from the 2021 edition, but that was cancelled by CAF due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa and its impact.