The inaugural members at the meeting were Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, the Seychelles, Tanzania and Tunisia.

A meeting was held in July 1992 in Casablanca with the view of integrating the SARFU into the confederation.

In March 1992 these were formally combined to form the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU).

These agreements, designed to foster rugby development across the continent, were signed in January 2015, and followed earlier arrangements with the SARU and French club Castres Olympique which were made in 2006.

The Leopards played their first ever match in July 2005 at Ellis Park as a curtain raiser between Springboks and Australia.