15 Professional GIS Datasets for Africa

Tip: Ideal for base maps, census planning, and jurisdiction analysis. Use in QGIS or ArcGIS for boundary overlays.

Tip: Filter by Strahler order to isolate major rivers. Pairs well with rainfall and aquifer data for watershed and flood-risk analysis.

Tip: Clipped to exact country boundaries from ESA WorldCover 2021 (10m). Open in QGIS and apply a paletted renderer on the uint8 band — 10 classes from tree cover to built-up. Ideal for change detection, land degradation mapping, and carbon stock assessment.

Tip: Monitor long-term drought severity with SPI-12. Negative values indicate drought, positive values indicate wet periods. Essential for food security and water resource planning.

Tip: Annual rainfall totals for agricultural planning, water catchment analysis, and climate baseline studies. Drag into QGIS for instant visualization.

Tip: Monthly mean temperature climatology for habitat modelling, crop suitability, and climate change impact assessments.

Tip: Essential for water resource management, transboundary groundwater agreements, and borehole planning. Pairs perfectly with HydroBASINS for full aquifer-to-catchment analysis in QGIS.

Tip: Filter by Strahler order to isolate major rivers. Strahler ≥ 4 gives named, navigable rivers. Pairs perfectly with HydroBASINS for full watershed analysis.

Tip: Level 6 basins average 2,000–10,000 km² - ideal for catchment-scale hydrology, transboundary water management, and flood modelling at the regional level.