The Confederation of African Football has announced the group draws for the 2015 African Cup of Nations to be held in Equatorial Guinea next year. The event for the draws was held in Malabo, the capital city of the host nation.

The draws were witnessed by various leaders of the football federations across the continent and other football luminaries. At the end of the event, the draws for each group A to D were confirmed.

Group A features host nation Equatorial Guinea, 2013 finalists Burkina Faso, 2012 co-hosts Gabon and Congo. The first fixture of the 2015 event, which will be preceded by an opening ceremony, will see hosts Equatorial Guinea play against on Congo in Group A.

In Group B: 2012 champions Zambia were drawn to face DR Congo, Cape Verde and Tunisia. Zambia will be hoping to enjoy the same good fortune they experienced the last time Equatorial Guinea featured as hosts of the tournament in 2012 as they emerged victors in a penalty shootout against then favourites, Ivory Coast.

Group C presents the prospect of some African classic football matches as Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Algeria were all pitted against each other. The group features three former champions, Ghana, Algeria and South Africa as well as Senegal- a former finalist at the tournament.

The first game in the group will see Ghana take on Senegal while Shakes Mashaba’s Bafana Bafana will take on the Fennec Foxes of Algeria who are the highest rated African team on the FIFA rankings and also the favourites to win the competition.

In Group D, Ivory Coast and Cameroon will slug it out alongside Guinea and Mali. The first fixture in the group will see Ivory Coast take on Mali as they go in search of their first win of the African title in the modern era after repeated failures despite having their best group of players in generations.

The most notable absentees from the 2015 African Cup of Nations are three time champions Nigeria as well the most successful team in the competition, Egypt.

Here are the group draws for the 2015 African Cup of Nations:

Group A

Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Burkina Faso

Group B

Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cape Verde, Tunisia

Group C

Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria

Group D

Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali

The 2015 African Cup of Nations kicks off on January 17th 2015 and the final will take place on February 8th 2015. The event will feature heavy corporate partnerships from CAF sponsors, partners and suppliers such s Orange, Pepsi and Nissan.