Coach Gideon Tarus’s charges lost 25-22 in the opening set before going down 25-20 in the subsequent one.

However, Wafalme put up a brave fight in the third set to win 26-24 to stretch the game to one more set.

Unfortunately, their new-found revival withered in the deciding set as the West African giants took all the points with a 25-17 win.

Wafalme next face Libya in their next match on Tuesday evening at the same venue.

The North Africans began their continental campaign with a 3-1 win over Ghana.

In other results of the day, Morocco thrashed Rwanda in straight sets as Tunisia thwacked Mali with the same scoreline.