The men's 1500 metres event at the 2008 African Championships in Athletics was held at the Addis Ababa Stadium on May 3–4.
| width=200 bgcolor=gold | Gold | width=200 bgcolor=silver | Silver | width=200 bgcolor=CC9966 | Bronze |
| Haron Keitany | Gideon Gathimba | Juan van Deventer |
Qualification: First 4 of each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 3:48.12 | Q | |||
| 2 | 1 | 3:48.18 | Q | |||
| 3 | 1 | 3:48.24 | Q | |||
| 4 | 1 | 3:52.71 | Q | |||
| 5 | 1 | 3:53.26 | q | |||
| 6 | 1 | 3:53.53 | q | |||
| 7 | 1 | 3:54.61 | q | |||
| 8 | 2 | 3:56.07 | Q | |||
| 9 | 2 | 3:56.36 | Q | |||
| 10 | 2 | 3:56.56 | Q | |||
| 11 | 2 | 3:57.55 | Q | |||
| 12 | 2 | 3:59.14 | q | |||
| 13 | 2 | 4:07.51 | ||||
| 14 | 2 | 4:15.55 | ||||
| 15 | 2 | 4:16.02 | ||||
| 16 | 1 | 4:28.69 | ||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:43.47 | |||||
| 3:43.56 | |||||
| 3:43.63 | |||||
| 3:44.19 | |||||
| 3:44.90 | |||||
| 3:49.28 | |||||
| 3:51.03 | |||||
| 3:51.44 | |||||
| 3:53.34 | |||||
| 10 | 3:54.02 | ||||
| 11 | 3:54.93 | ||||
| 12 | 3:55.73 |