2012 African Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres

First 4 in each heat (Q) and 4 best performers (q) advance to the Semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Note
1	2	8	Amantle Montsho	Botswana	50.42	Q
2	2	3	Regina George	Nigeria	51.39	Q
3	1	4	Tsholofelo Thipe	South Africa	52.06	Q
4	4	6	Bukola Abogunloko	Nigeria	52.11	Q
5	2	2	Joyce Sakari	Kenya	52.38	Q
6	2	7	Ndeye Fatou Soumah	Senegal	52.57	Q
7	1	3	Raasin McIntosh	Liberia	52.63	Q
8	5	1	Lydia Mashila	Botswana	52.65	Q
9	4	8	Goitseone Seleka	Botswana	53.11	Q
10	1	5	Salam Abrhaley	Ethiopia	53.47	Q
11	3	3	Rorisang Ramonnye	South Africa	53.58	Q
11	4	2	Estie Wittstock	South Africa	53.58	Q
13	1	8	Endurance Abinuwa	Nigeria	53.65	Q
14	5	8	Tigst Assefa	Ethiopia	54.05	Q
15	1	6	Matacha Ngoye Akamabi	Republic of the Congo	54.31	q
16	2	4	Adelaide Nkrumah	Ghana	54.49	q
17	1	7	Fatou Dyabaye	Senegal	54.60	q
18	3	4	Amy Mbacke Thiam	Senegal	54.65	Q
19	1	2	Audrey Nkamsao	Cameroon	54.67	q
20	3	7	Grace Kidake	Kenya	54.91	Q
21	5	3	Yvonne Amegashie	Ghana	54.98	Q
22	4	3	Catherine Nandi	Kenya	54.99	Q
23	2	6	Phumlile Ndzinisa	Swaziland	55.37
24	4	5	Mahlet Mulugeta	Ethiopia	55.62
25	3	2	Souliatou Saka	Benin	55.77	Q
26	3	1	Lydie Besme Hawa	Chad	57.01
27	3	8	Natasha Bibi	Seychelles	57.36
28	5	6	Kadia Dembele	Mali	57.74	Q
29	5	4	Bana Lafia Gounou	Benin	58.65
30	2	5	Mohmed Ali Sourah	Djibouti	1:03.84
	5	5	Vanice Monteiro	Cape Verde	DNF
	5	7	Tjipekapora Herunga	Namibia	DSQ
	3	5	Rahma Mohammed	Eritrea	DNS
	3	6	Angele Cooper	Liberia	DNS
	4	4	Ramata Nikiema	Burkina Faso	DNS
	4	7	Graciela Maitius	Guinea-Bissau	DNS
	5	2	Racheal Nachula	Zambia	DNS

First 2 in each heat (Q) and 2 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Note
1	2	5	Amantle Montsho	Botswana	51.25	Q
2	1	4	Regina George	Nigeria	51.71	Q
3	3	6	Bukola Abogunloko	Nigeria	52.12	Q
4	3	5	Amy Mbacke Thiam	Senegal	52.35	Q
5	1	5	Joyce Sakari	Kenya	52.36	Q
6	1	6	Tsholofelo Thipe	South Africa	52.51	q
7	3	8	Estie Wittstock	South Africa	52.61	q
8	1	8	Ndeye Fatou Soumah	Senegal	52.85
9	2	6	Raasin McIntosh	Liberia	52.91	Q
10	2	4	Rorisang Ramonnye	South Africa	52.93
11	3	3	Lydia Mashila	Botswana	53.60
12	2	8	Endurance Abinuwa	Nigeria	53.75
13	1	3	Goitseone Seleka	Botswana	54.09
14	2	3	Salam Abrhaley	Ethiopia	54.84
15	3	7	Catherine Nandi	Kenya	54.91
16	2	2	Fatou Dyabaye	Senegal	55.19
17	1	1	Audrey Nkamsao	Cameroon	55.20
18	2	7	Grace Kidake	Kenya	55.47
19	3	4	Tigst Assefa	Ethiopia	55.58
20	1	7	Yvonne Amegashie	Ghana	55.82
21	3	2	Adelaide Nkrumah	Ghana	55.85
22	2	1	Souliatou Saka	Benin	56.64
23	3	1	Matacha Ngoye Akamabi	Republic of the Congo	57.47
24	1	2	Kadia Dembele	Mali	57.64