"We decided to work together so we could break away from the others, because we weren't sure about their kick," the 25-year-old Ndiwa told IAAF.com. "I didn't have a good kick there so I've been working a lot on my speed since then. It paid off."
African indoor record holder Hugues Zango of Burkina Faso pulled a surprise in the men's triple jump, bounding a lifetime best 17.11 metres to outdistance South Africa's Godrey Mokoena (16.83m), and Antonio Alkana of South Africa repeated as African champion in the 110m hurdles, winning in 13.51 seconds.
Nigeria's Kelechi Nwanaga (women's javelin, 56.96m), Egypt's Mostafa Al Gamal (hammer throw, 73.50) and Tunisia's Mohamed Romdhana (pole vault, 5.20m) also won gold medals.
South African Olympic and world champion Caster Semenya eased through the heats of the women's 800m, finishing second to Uganda's Winnie Nanyondo.
Semenya, who on Friday set a national 400m record, clocked 2:02.90 to Nanyondo's 2:02.66.
The South African will be seeking her 27th consecutive 800m finals victory on Sunday. Her last loss at the distance came in 2015.
Ivory Coast's Marie Josee Ta Lou, already the African 100m champion, led semi-finalists in the women's 200m in 23.34 seconds and Zimbabwe's Tatenda Tsumba was the fastest in the men's semis in 20.72.
The championships end on Sunday with winners throughout the five-day competition qualifying for next month's Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Ian Ransom)
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