The Confederation of African Rugby was allotted one place in the 1999 Rugby World Cup by direct qualification (Africa 1) and one place in the repechage tournament. This was in addition to the automatic qualifying place granted to South Africa as champions of the 1995 tournament.
Nine teams participated in the qualification tournament for Africa which was held in four stages. The first two stages (Rounds 1 and 2) were played in 1997 and the last two stages (Rounds 3 and 4) were played in 1998.
The three lowest ranked sides played a single round robin tournament (drawn for home or away), with top placed team progressing to the next round and the other two teams dropping out. Rounds two and three were played in a similar fashion – the three lowest ranked remaining sides (i.e. the winner of the previous round and the next two lowest ranked teams) played a single round robin tournament (drawn for home or away).
The final stage changed the pattern in that the top two teams from round three progressed to round four, and all matches were played in Rabat, Morocco. A four team single round robin was played and Namibia secured the (Africa 1) qualification for RWC 1999 as the top placed side, with Morocco in second place progressing to the repechage. [1] [2]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arabian Gulf | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 43 | +54 | 6 |
| 2 |  Zambia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 57 | −7 | 4 |
| 3 |  Botswana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 73 | −47 | 2 |
| Match Results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Home | Score | Away | Venue |
| 18 Apr 1997 | Arabian Gulf | 53–13 | Botswana | Manama, Bahrain |
| 26 Apr 1997 | Zambia | 30–44 | Arabian Gulf | Luanshya, Zambia |
| 17 May 1997 | Botswana | 13–20 | Zambia | Gaborone, Botswana |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tunisia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 17 | +46 | 4 |
| 2 | Arabian Gulf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 4 |
| 3 |  Kenya | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 70 | −28 | 4 |
| Date | Team #1 | Score | Team #2 | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 June 1997 | Arabian Gulf | 12–11 | Tunisia | Manama, Bahrain |
| 6 September 1997 | Kenya | 37–18 | Arabian Gulf | Nairobi, Kenya |
| 20 September 1997 | Tunisia | 52–5 | Kenya | Tunis, Tunisia |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Zimbabwe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 69 | 41 | +28 | 4 |
| 2 |  Namibia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 49 | 46 | +3 | 4 |
| 3 | Tunisia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 60 | −31 | 4 |
| Date | Team #1 | Score | Team #2 | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 April 1998 | Zimbabwe | 43–9 | Tunisia | Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
| 18 April 1998 | Tunisia | 20–17 | Namibia | Tunis, Tunisia |
| 9 May 1998 | Namibia | 32–26 | Zimbabwe | Windhoek, Namibia |
All round 4 matches were held in Rabat, Morocco.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namibia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 32 | +46 | 9 |
| 2 |  Morocco | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 54 | +1 | 5 |
| 4 |  Ivory Coast | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 60 | −47 | 3 |
| Date | Team #1 | Score | Team No. 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 1998 | Morocco | 15–9 | Zimbabwe |
| 12 September 1998 | Namibia | 22–10 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| 16 September 1998 | Zimbabwe | 32–0 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| 16 September 1998 | Morocco | 8–17 | Namibia |
| 19 September 1998 | Namibia | 39–14 | Zimbabwe |
| 19 September 1998 | Morocco | 6–3 | Côte d'Ivoire |
Namibia qualified for RWC 1999, Morocco qualified for repechage.
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