The 2027 Africa Eco Race will start on January 24 and finish on February 6, settling into the current late January time slot.

Pre-registration will begin on March 15 at noon French time. Race officials note there will be a “limited number of entries in each category”.

The same six categories from 2026—Bike, Auto, SSV, Truck, Historic, and the non-competition Raid—return.

For much of its history, the AER took place in late December or early January to properly match the dates of the original Paris–Dakar Rally, whose route it follows. However, this meant it often clashed with the actual Dakar Rally in South America and Saudi Arabia. The clash ended in 2026 when the AER was moved to its new time slot in late January.

Featured image credit: via Noa Sainct