The event was first held in 1997, two years after a combined West and North African Athletics Championships, and was contested on four occasions until 2005.

[1] The event was relaunched as a biennial, senior and under-20 competition in 2017 under the official title of the CAA Region 2 African Championships.

[2][3] Nigeria, the largest nation in the region, did not take part in 1997 or 2005.

As a result, the competition was an opportunity for athletes from smaller nations in the region to train and prepare for larger scale athletics championships.

[6][7][8] Among other athletics events to be held for the region were the West African Games in 1977 and the West African Cross Country Championships in 1996.