To bring together prehistorians, palaeontologists and geologists from one end of the continent to the other.
To provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas.
To create contacts between students, researchers and practitioners across Africa and in multiple disciplines.
To forge links and friendships that otherwise would not exist and to facilitate and promote interAfrican collaboration.

Congresses and Presidents

Congresses

	Year	Host city	President
1st	1947	Nairobi, Kenya	Henri Breuil
2nd	1952	Algiers, Algeria	Henri Breuil
3rd	1955	Livingstone, Zambia	Louis Leakey
4th	1959	Kinshasa (then Leopoldville), DRC	Camille Arambourg
5th	1963	Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands	Luis Pericot Garcia
6th	1967	Dakar, Senegal	Amadou Mahtar M'Bow
7th	1971	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia	Thurston Shaw
8th	1977	Nairobi, Kenya	Bethwell Ogot
9th	1983	Jos, Nigeria	Ekpo Eyo
10th	1995	Harare, Zimbabwe	David Kiyaga-Mulindwa
11th	2001	Bamako, Mali	Hamady Bocoum
12th	2005	Gaborone, Botswana	Alinah Segobye
13th	2010	Dakar, Senegal	Benjamin Smith
14th	2014	Johannesburg, South Africa