Climate of Africa
The equator cuts through Africa almost exactly in the middle. That geographical fact has a profound effect on climate: the climate zones mirror each other symmetrically on either side of that line. From tropical rainforest near the equator to desert, savanna and Mediterranean climate at the northern and southern tips — Africa has virtually every climate type found on Earth.
The role of the equator
The equator and hemispheres are key concepts for understanding the African climate. The equator runs through Gabon, the Republic of Congo, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia — all countries that receive intense solar radiation throughout the year. At the equator, warm, moist air masses rise, condense and fall as rain. That mechanism feeds the Congo Rainforest and the rainforests along the Guinean coast.
As you move further from the equator — both northwards and southwards — the precipitation pattern takes on a seasonal "dry" and "wet" season. Rainfall decreases and the landscapes gradually transition from lush forest to savanna, then to semi-arid Sahel grassland and finally to desert. At the extreme northern and southern tips of the continent the climate returns to a Mediterranean type with wet winters and dry summers.
This mirror symmetry makes Africa unique among continents: nowhere else are climate zones arranged so cleanly around a geographical midpoint. The time zone structure shows a similar regularity; see the time zones page for more context.
Köppen climate zones of Africa
The Köppen-Geiger climate classification divides Africa into five main zones. The table below gives an overview of each zone, the corresponding regions and the main characteristics. Source: Köppen-Geiger classification (Beck et al. 2018, updated 2023).
| Köppen zone | Where in Africa | Main characteristic |
|---|---|---|
| Af — Tropical rainforest | Congo Basin, Guinean coast, equatorial belt | Rainfall > 60 mm per month all year; no dry season; temperature 25–28 °C |
| Aw — Tropical savanna | West Africa (outside the coast), East Africa, Central Africa around the equatorial belt | Pronounced dry season in the hemisphere's "winter"; annual rainfall 750–1,500 mm |
| BSh — Hot semi-arid (Sahel) | Sahel (Senegal–Niger–Chad–Sudan), Horn of Africa | Rainfall 250–600 mm/year; one short rainy season; extreme temperature swings |
| BWh — Hot desert | Sahara (North Africa), Namib (coastal desert, Namibia), Kalahari (Botswana/South Africa) | Rainfall < 250 mm/year; daytime temperatures up to 50 °C; large day-night variation |
| Cs/Csa — Mediterranean | Morocco, northern Algeria, northern Tunisia; Cape Province (South Africa) | Dry, hot summers; wet, mild winters; rainfall 400–800 mm/year; olives and vineyards |
| Cfa/Cfb — Humid temperate | Ethiopian Highlands, Lesotho, east coast of KwaZulu-Natal | Evenly distributed rainfall; cooler temperatures due to altitude; no pronounced dry season |
| H — Highland / Alpine | Kilimanjaro, Atlas Mountains, Rwenzori, Ethiopian Highlands | Temperature drops with altitude; snow possible above 4,000 m; own micro-climate |
Source: Köppen-Geiger climate classification (Beck et al. 2018, updated 2023).
Rainy seasons
The rainy season in Africa follows the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) — a band of low air pressure that tracks the equator and shifts with the seasons. In the northern hemisphere's summer (May–September) the ITCZ moves northward: West Africa, the Sahel and the Horn receive their rain. In the austral summer (November–April) the band shifts southward and rain falls over East and Southern Africa.
In the Horn of Africa — Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya — two rainy seasons occur. The "long rains" (masika) last from March to May, the "short rains" (vuli) from October to December. The period between the two seasons is dry and prone to drought. The Sahel receives its rainfall exclusively in summer (June–September); outside those months almost nothing falls.
Deserts: Sahara, Namib and Kalahari
The Sahara (about 9 million km²) is the largest hot desert on Earth. In its heart — Libya, Algeria, Niger — less than 25 mm of rain falls per year. Daytime temperatures sometimes exceed 50 °C; nights can drop below freezing. The desert is not static: sand dunes (erg) shift with the wind, while hardened plains (reg) are almost bare of vegetation.
The Namib, along the Atlantic coast of Namibia, is more than 55 million years old and is one of the oldest deserts in the world. Cold ocean currents (the Benguela current) cool the air above the sea, producing mist and fog but almost no rain. Plants such as Welwitschia mirabilis survive solely on that fog water. The Kalahari in Botswana and surrounding areas is technically a semi-desert: rainfall (150–500 mm) is just enough for grasses and shrubs, allowing it to support more fauna than the Sahara. See also the countries of Africa page for a geographical overview.
Climate change in Africa
Africa is the continent that contributes least to global CO₂ emissions — less than 4% of the world total — yet is simultaneously the most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. That makes the situation particularly unjust.
The Sahara is slowly expanding southward, a process called desertification. The Sahel, already fragile, is seeing its rainfall become more irregular: longer drought episodes alternate with more intense but shorter rainstorms. That irregularity disrupts the agriculture on which hundreds of millions of people depend. Maize, millet and sorghum — staple crops for African food security — are sensitive to both heat and drought.
In East Africa, Lake Victoria has warmed over recent decades, with consequences for fish stocks and water levels. The glaciers on Kilimanjaro have shrunk by more than 85% over the past hundred years; hydrologists expect them to be virtually gone by around 2040. In coastal regions, rising sea levels threaten low-lying delta cities such as Dar es Salaam and Lagos. The time zones page provides context on the broader system of time zones and climate belts within which Africa sits.
Sources
- Köppen-Geiger climate classification — Beck et al. 2018, updated 2023
- IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) 2021–2022 — climate change in Africa
- WMO (World Meteorological Organization) — precipitation and temperature data
- NASA / USGS — satellite data on desert expansion and glacier retreat
- UN World Population Prospects 2024 — population figures for context