15 Professional GIS Datasets for Africa

Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML1:50,000 – 1:250,000EPSG:4326GADM (non-commercial) / ODbLGADM v4.1 · 2022~2–8 MB / country

Country, provincial, and district boundaries for all 54 African nations

Tip · Base maps, census planning, and jurisdiction analysis.

🔥

Drought Index (SPI-12)

GeoTIFF (ZIP)0.05° (~5 km)EPSG:4326Public domain (USGS/UCSB)CHIRPS v2.0~5–20 MB / country

Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI-12) for long-term drought monitoring across Africa

Tip · Long-term drought severity. Negative = drought, positive = wet. Pairs with rainfall.

Groundwater & Hydrogeology

💧

Transboundary Aquifers

GeoPackage1:1M – 1:5MEPSG:4326IGRAC open dataWHYMAP 2015 · GGIS rolling~1–5 MB / country

Transboundary aquifer polygons — names, country codes, and geometries for aquifers crossing international borders.

Tip · Transboundary aquifer agreements and borehole planning. Pairs with HydroBASINS.

🐘

Conservation

Protected Areas & Wildlife

Shapefile (ZIP)VectorEPSG:4326ODbL (OSM)OSM rolling~2–25 MB / country

National parks, reserves, conservancies, forest reserves, and marine protected areas — clipped per country.

Tip · Conservation planning, wildlife corridor mapping, environmental compliance.

🌧️

Rainfall Data

GeoTIFF (ZIP)0.05° (~5 km)EPSG:4326Public domain (USGS/UCSB)CHIRPS v2.0~5–25 MB / country

Mean annual rainfall totals derived from CHIRPS v2.0 for all 54 African nations

Tip · Annual rainfall totals for agricultural planning, water catchments, climate baselines.

🌊

River Networks

ZIP (Shapefile)90 m hydrologicalEPSG:4326HydroSHEDS (free with attribution)2023~5–40 MB / country

Major river systems and tributaries clipped per country across all 54 African nations

Tip · Filter by Strahler order. Pairs with rainfall and aquifer data for watershed analysis.

🏘️

Socioeconomic

Population & Settlements

Shapefile (ZIP)ADM1 / ADM2EPSG:4326CC BY 3.0 IGO (varies)COD-PS rolling~3–15 MB / country

Subnational population counts at ADM1/ADM2 — from each country's latest census or projection, joined to authoritative boundaries.

Tip · Subnational counts at ADM1/ADM2 from each country's latest official census.

🛣️

Transport

Roads & Infrastructure

Shapefile, GeoJSONVectorEPSG:4326ODbL (OSM)OSM rolling~10–80 MB / country

Primary, secondary, and tertiary road networks across Africa

Tip · Accessibility analysis, logistics planning, infrastructure gap assessment.

🗺️

Watersheds & Catchments

GeoPackage, GeoJSONLevel 6 (~2k–10k km²)EPSG:4326HydroSHEDS (free with attribution)HydroBASINS v1c~5–40 MB / country

Level 6 watershed polygons (basins averaging 2,000–10,000 km²). Per-country GeoPackage from HydroBASINS v1c.

Tip · Level 6 basins (2,000–10,000 km²). Catchment-scale hydrology and transboundary water management.

🌿

Land Use / Land Cover

GeoTIFF10 mEPSG:4326CC BY 4.0WorldCover v200 · 2021~200 MB – 4 GB / country

Multi-class land cover classification: forest, cropland, urban, water, grassland

Tip · Clipped to country boundaries from ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). 10 classes from tree cover to built-up.

🦆

Water & Hydrology

Wetlands & Floodplains

Soon Max

Wetland extent, flood-prone zones, and seasonal inundation mapping

GeoTIFF, Shapefile30–100 mEPSG:4326CC BY 4.02023~20–100 MB / country

Tip · Biodiversity conservation, flood modelling, environmental compliance.

Available soon

🌾

Agriculture

Soil Classification

GeoTIFF250 mEPSG:4326 (reprojected from Homolosine)CC BY 4.0SoilGrids v2.0 · 2020~30–120 MB / country

Soil type, texture, organic carbon, pH, and nutrient content layers

Tip · Precision agriculture, land suitability, erosion risk. Multi-layer soil properties.

🌊

HydroRIVERS — River Networks

GeoPackage, GeoJSON15 arc-second (~500 m)EPSG:4326HydroSHEDS (free with attribution)HydroRIVERS v10~30–250 MB / country

Full African river network with Strahler order, discharge, and length. Per-country GeoPackage from HydroRIVERS v10.

Tip · Filter by Strahler order. ≥4 = named, navigable rivers. Pairs with HydroBASINS.

🌡️

Temperature Data

GeoTIFF (ZIP)2.5 arc-min (~5 km)EPSG:4326CC BY 4.0WorldClim v2.1 · 2020~10–50 MB / country

Monthly mean temperature climatology (1970–2000) from WorldClim v2.1

Tip · Monthly mean temperature climatology for habitat modelling and crop suitability.

🏞️

Lakes

ZIP (Shapefile)Vector polygonsEPSG:4326HydroSHEDS (free with attribution)HydroLAKES v1.0~1–8 MB / country

Per-country lake polygons from HydroLAKES. Includes natural lakes and major reservoirs.