By Julius Gale

JUBA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The South Sudan Boxing Federation (SSBF) has embarked on massive talent search in a bid to build the country's first national boxing team which is expected to represent the world's youngest country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The SSBF has partnered with the African Boxers Empowerment Initiative (ABEI) to build the capacity of aspiring boxers in the war-torn country.

SSBF Secretary General Martin Obonyo Hakim told reporters on Thursday that the east African nation would be hosting its first-ever amateur boxing competition from Oct. 26-28 aimed at spotting talented male and female boxers to join the national team.

Hakim said the initiative also seeks to nurture skills of boxers as South Sudan prepares to make its first appearance in the boxing category at the Tokyo summer Games.

"This tournament shall also be taken as the springboard to select our national boxing team that will eventually continue to prepare in training to represent South Sudan in the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020," Hakim said.

South Sudan became the 206th member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in August 2015.

The world's youngest nation made its first ever Olympic appearance at the Rio 2016 Games, represented by three athletes.