Tens of participants from eight African countries have already arrived in Abuja for the Pan-African Science Olympiad 2015.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the Olympiad, which began on Saturday with registration of participants, would be formally opened Monday at the ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja.

Countries that are expected to compete in the continental event are Benin, Botswana, Bukina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.

Representatives from Benin, Bukina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Niger, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and the host country, Nigeria have arrived for the event.

The Pan-African Science Olympiad is a competition for gifted secondary school students in mathematics and the sciences.

The prestigious event, initiated by the African Mathematics Union, AMU, is organized each year in an African country where the best pupils in Mathematics at Secondary level who are less than twenty years old are invited to compete.

It contributes to continental integration and allows the AMU to detect new talents in Mathematics and the sciences.