Angola and Mali kicked off after an opening ceremony featuring a fireworks display that lit up a 50,000-seat stadium whose rims bend like the horns of the black sable antelope - the nation's national symbol.
South African President Jacob Zuma, whose nation will host the World Cup in June, attended the opening game where tens of thousands of Angolan fans dressed in the colours of the Angolan national flag - red and black - cheered for their team.
Both teams held a minute of silence for members of the Togo team who were killed in Angola's northern province of Cabinda by gunmen the government said were separatist insurgents.
The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) has vowed to carry out more attacks but authorities have beefed up security.
"This is a group of people that have little or no coordination. We have increased security to make sure this does not happen again," said Antonio Bento Bembe, an Angolan minister in charge of Cabinda affairs who was once a FLEC leader.
Togo will return home and not compete in the tournament, captain Emmanuel Adebayor said on Sunday, although a spokesman for the squad later said a final decision had not been made.
The organisers held an emergency meeting late on Saturday before finally announcing that the tournament would go ahead.
But the mood among sports fans earlier on Sunday was high, as people made their way through the boiling heat along a 10-km (six-mile) stretch of road festooned with flags and banners with slogans reading 'Proud to be Angolan and 'Go Angola'.
"This is a day to remember. The whole world is watching and we know the tournament will be a success," said Landira Silva, 22, as she stood at the entrance to the stadium.
Angola's national team may have little chance of winning the tournament against African heavyweights like Ghana and the Ivory Coast. But its government and people have said they hope the country will improve its image abroad after emerging from a brutal three-decade-long civil war in 2002.
"I'm betting Angola beats Mali 3-1," said Joao Sousa, as he zig-zagged his way through the crowd to the main gate of the stadium. "I'm sure we will win."
The championship, which ends on January 31, is one of the biggest sporting events in Africa and watched by millions.
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