All 56 CAF member associations might enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.
For the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF used the 2010-2014 CAF 5-Year Ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs' performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.