Jonathan Kodjia and Jean-Michael Seri scored in Abu Dhabi to give the Ivorians a 2-1 half-time lead after Fashion Sakala had converted a penalty for Zambia.

Maxwell Cornet increased the lead on 57 minutes and a late goal from Wilfried Bony completed a morale-boosting win for the former African champions.

Ivory Coast had defeated the Comoros and lost to Uganda in their other warm-up matches for the tournament, which kicks off on Friday with Egypt playing Zimbabwe in the opening match in Cairo.

Zambia, the 2012 champions, failed to qualify for this newly expanded Nations Cup but have played in a number of warm-up games.

They lost narrowly to defending champions Cameroon and defeated Morocco before facing the Ivorians.

The Elephants will play in Group D in Egypt alongside Morocco, South Africa and Namibia.