The southern African state was the unanimous choice of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee ahead of Libya, Nigeria and a joint bid by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

CAF president Issa Hayatou of Cameroon and the 12-man executive listened to 10-minute presentations from the four contenders before reaching the decision at their headquarters on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.

But there was consolation for two of the losing bids with Equatorial Guinea and Gabon (2012) and Libya (2014) awarded the right to host the following two editions of the Nations Cup, won by hosts Egypt last February.

This is the first time the Cairo-based continental body have selected the hosts of three editions of the biennial showpiece of African football at the same time.

"We have taken the decision to name three Nations Cup hosts at the same time to ensure that our hosts have adequate time to prepare for the competitions," CAF general secretary Mustapha Fahmy told reporters.

"CAF also wanted to develop the game in countries that have not had a chance to host the tournament.