GABORONE, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared open the eighth edition of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region five U-20 Games here on Friday afternoon.

The Games, in an Olympic format, has brought together 10 Southern African countries to compete in 10 different sporting codes over a period of 10 days.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Masisi commended the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and regional organizers for working hard to put together games of a very high magnitude in Botswana.

Among the athletes are Botswana 800m runner and 2012 London Olympics silver medallist Nijel Amos as well as South Africa's 400m Olympic champion Wayde Van Niekerk.

Competing countries are host Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, while Tanzania competes as a guest team from outside the region.

The games are scheduled to conclude on Dec. 16.