Modern energy services are crucial to human well-being and to a country’s economic development; and yet 1.2 billion people are without access to electricity. It is recognized that the central grid is unlikely to reach many remote areas in the near future: many of these communities will have low electricity consumption, making the costs of extending the grid unaffordable. Given the evident potential of solar energy for African countries, using stand-alone and mini-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems could be an alternative approach to meet the objective of universal electrification.

This dataset presents the ratio between the optimized battery size (kWh) and PV array size (kWp) for PV mini-grids using Li-ion batteries to store electricity (instead of traditional lead-acid batteries). It includes layers modeling two distinct usage behaviors:

• Low energy consumption patterns: where the majority of energy is used during the night-time.
• High energy consumption patterns: where the majority of energy is used during the day-time.

A higher ratio means that the battery size needed to satisfy the same electricity demand produced by the PV system is larger. Used in combination with other sources, these data can help governments, local authorities, and non-governmental organisations to investigate the suitability of PV mini-grids for the electrification of regions where access to electricity is lacking.

Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are the main largest producers of cocoa in the world. However, the cultivation of this crop has led to the loss of vast tracts of forest areas in both countries. Efficient and accurate methods for remotely identifying cocoa farms are essential for the implementation of sustainable cocoa practices and the periodic and effective monitoring of forests. This map, generated using Random Forest image classification, shows the 2019 distribution of cocoa farms in both countries. The estimated area for cocoa is 4.8Mha for Cote d'Ivoire and 2.3Mha for Ghana.

An intact forest landscape (IFL) is a seamless mosaic of forest and naturally treeless ecosystems with no remotely detected signs of human activity and a minimum area of 500 km2. (Potapov et al.2017) Intact forests are complex and diverse ecosystems that if lost, are irreplaceable. Research shows that designating intact forest landscapes as protected areas has proven effective at limiting their fragmentation. Since 2000, around 100 conserved and protected areas were created in intact forests areas in ACP countries, increasing the percentage of IFL protected from 11% in 2000 to 26% in 2020.

Differences in countries in terms of IFL area reduction: Cuba has not experienced any reduction in IFLs and nowadays its intact forests are fully protected by PAs (544sqkm). At the contrary Angola still not has any kind of protection for its IFLs and experienced a reduction of 39,83% of its IFL (1160 sqkm) in country.The reduction of IFL area in ACP countries was higher outside PAs (19%) than within PAs (5%).Madagascar is the country where the reduction of IFL areas was very high inside protected areas (2420 sqkm). The IFL loss inside PAs has been more than 40% between 2000 and 2020. Central African Republic experienced 23% of reduction inside PAs (938,13 sqkm). This layer shows the percentage of IFLs protected by country

Analysis performed by Simona Lippi

Africa is very rich in biodiversity and is the last place on Earth with a significant assemblage of large mammals. This natural richness, accumulated over millions of years, coupled with the wealth of indigenous and local knowledge on the continent, is central to the pursuit of sustainable development in the region. Yet the decline and loss of biodiversity is reducing nature’s contributions to people in Africa, affecting daily lives and hampering the sustainable social and economic targets set by African countries. This map shows the number of threatened mammal species by country, assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and documented in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Established in 1964, the IUCN Red List is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity that helps inform necessary conservation decisions.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, medium- and low-voltage data are often non-existent, uncompleted, or unavailable. This is a challenge for practitioners working on the electricity access agenda, power sector resilience or climate change adaptation. This layer presents the spatial extent of the existing and planned electricity grid (high, medium, low voltage level) compiled using multiple sources that enumerate elements of the existing transmission and distribution network.

In 2020, a group of researchers carried out analysis to examine the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for preserving Intact Forest Landscapes.(Fa et al.2020)They used geospatial data on the extent of Indigenous Peoples’ lands reported by Garnett et al. (2018), and Geospatial data for IFLs were sourced from the Intact Forest Landscapes website (www.intactforests.org) for the years 2000, 2013, and 2016 (Potapov et al. 2017)In the paper they have shown that the proportion of Indigenous Peoples’ lands mapped as IFLs was considerably higher (10.9%) than the proportion of other lands (defined here as all land outside Indigenous Peoples’ lands) mapped as IFLs (6.8%).

In this map we reported the percentage of Intact Forest Lansdcapes reduction in Indigenous People Lands for the period 2000-2016. IN the table we reported also the percentage of IFLs reduction in other lands. To explore more IFLs conservation strategies for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries you can check BIOPAMA Geonode Layers

Sources:

Fa JE, Watson JE, Leiper I, Potapov P, Evans TD, Burgess ND, Molnár Z, Fernández‐Llamazares Á, Duncan T, Wang S, Austin BJ. Importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for the conservation of Intact Forest Landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2020 Apr;18(3):135-4

Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life. Literacy statistics for most countries cover the population ages 15 and older, but some include younger ages or are confined to age ranges that tend to inflate literacy rates. The youth literacy rate for ages 15-24 reflects recent progress in education. It measures the accumulated outcomes of primary education over the previous 10 years or so by indicating the proportion of the population who have passed through the primary education system and acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills.

From the new available dataset in GFW on tree cover change between 2000 and 2020, here we are displaying the net change in tree cover by percent for country.The net change in tree cover corresponds to the area of gross gain minus the area of gross loss to show the overall change (negative or positive). The attribute table provides also statistics on net change in tree cover  such stable forest or disturbed forest(in hectars).

This dataset is accessed through Global Forest Watch on 04/10/2022. www.globalforestwatch.org.

Potapov, P., Hansen, M.C., Pickens, A., Hernandez-Serna, A., Tyukavina, A., Turubanova, S., Zalles, V., Li, X., Khan, A., Stolle, F., Harris, N., Song, X-P., Baggett, A., Kommareddy, I., and Kommareddy, A. 2022. The Global 2000-2020 Land Cover and Land Use Change Dataset Derived From the Landsat Archive: First Results. Frontiers in Remote Sensing, 13, April 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsen.2022.856903; summarized by administrative area at WRI

Net official development assistance (ODA) is government aid designed to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries. Aid may be provided bilaterally, from donor to recipient, or channelled through a multilateral development agency such as the United Nations or the World Bank. Net official aid (OA) refers to aid flows from official donors to more advanced (developing) countries and territories. Official aid is provided under terms and conditions similar to those for ODA. This map shows the aggregated figure (sum of ODA and OA) for African countries. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

The global capture fisheries has increased over the last 50 years as the consumption of seafood has doubled.This has increased pressure on fish stocks across the world. According to the State of World Fishery and Aquaculture 2020(FAO), the global capture fisheries production rose 14% from 1990 to 2018 and in 2018 it reached 96.4million tonnes. Here we show how much wild fish African countries caught in their EEZ in the last ten years (tonnes). In the attribute table you can find how much of the threatened marine fish species had be legally caught

This dataset shows Regional locations and general geologic setting of known deposits of major nonfuel mineral commodities in Africa

Crop conditions monitoring is highly relevant for food security early warning and response planning in food-insecure areas of the world. GEOGLAM (the Group on Earth Observations' Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative) aims to reinforce the international community's capacity to produce and disseminate relevant, timely, and accurate forecasts of agricultural production at national, regional, and global scales using Earth Observation data.

Copernicus4GEOGLAM, one of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Services managed by the EC Joint Research Centre, aims to produce baseline information that allows countries in Africa to improve their agricultural monitoring systems.

This dataset aggregates crop maps requested by three East African nations, showing the agricultural situation at the end of the long rain season of 2021. The results are made fully and freely accessible, covering the following areas:

• Kenya: 98,687 km²
• Tanzania: 116,190 km²
• Uganda: 89,296 km²

This dataset compiles geophysical models detailing the thickness of the Earth's outer layers, ranging from surface sedimentary basins down to the base of the lithosphere. The collection serves a dual purpose: it provides broad, global baseline data for sediment distribution, while also offering high-resolution, integrated regional models specifically focused on the African plate.

Dataset Contents:

I. Global Baselines

• Global Sediment Thickness (Laske & Masters, 2013): The global sediment thickness baseline extracted from the CRUST1.0 model. This provides broad, foundational coverage across both continental and oceanic domains. (Values expressed in km).
• Global Oceanic Sediment Thickness (Straume et al., 2019): A high-resolution, 5-arc-minute grid detailing total sediment thickness specifically for the world's oceans and marginal seas, compiled from extensive new data and previous work. (Values expressed in m).

II. African Regional Models

• Combined Sediment Thickness (Africa): A synthesized, optimized sedimentary thickness map for Africa and its surrounding regions. This layer intelligently merges the Laske & Masters (2013) and Straume et al. (2019) maps, prioritizing the Straume data wherever overlaps occur to maximize resolution. (Values expressed in m).
• Crustal Thickness (Globig et al., 2016): An Africa-specific crustal thickness map derived from the integrated modeling of elevation, geoid data, and rigorous thermal analysis. (Values expressed in km).
• Lithosphere Thickness (Globig et al., 2016): An Africa-specific lithospheric thickness map, complementing the crustal layer, derived using the same integrated elevation, geoid, and thermal modeling approach. (Values expressed in km).

These layers are part of the Geothermal Atlas for Africa developed within the LEAP-RE project

The current version of the GDW database (version 1.0) aims to catalogue all types of anthropogenic instream barriers. While initial mapping efforts prioritize major dams that form reservoirs, as well as run-of-river barriers on larger rivers where more information is readily available, the dataset comprises two distinct but interconnected spatial layers:

• Barrier and Dam Locations (Point Layer): Contains barrier and dam locations, geospatially referenced as point coordinates and co-registered to the global river network of HydroSHEDS.
• Reservoir Extents (Polygon Layer): Contains associated reservoir polygons, which includes data representing the maximum storage capacity of the reservoirs measured in million cubic meters.

Many African countries, especially in the Sub-Saharan region highly depend on hydropower which is one of the energy sources that are most affected by droughts. At the same time hydropower has a huge impact on water consumption (mainly through evaporation from reservoir surfaces) in comparison with other fuel types despite having higher densities of plants and installed capacities. Hydropower accounts for 15% of Africa’s energy production. This map shows the energy production (GWh) of hydropower plants with an installed capacity above 5MW, aggregated for each hydropower-generating country in Africa for year 2016.

<p>This spatial dataset contains the geographic boundaries and ecological evaluations of 45 Key Landscapes for Conservation and Development (KLCDs) across Sub-Saharan Africa. Building on the <a href="https://africa-knowledge-platform.ec.europa.eu/dataset/key-landscapes-c…; Key Landscapes for Conservation (KLCs) </a> identified in the EU report <a href="https://op.europa.eu/sl/publication-detail/-/publication/d76ac7eb-bc4a-…;“Larger than elephants”</a>, the NaturAfrica initiative is rolled out across these key biodiversity and development landscapes.</p>

<p>NaturAfrica's efforts are concentrated on ‘mega-landscapes’—biogeographical regions identified as crucial for both conservation and development. These regions encompass:</p>
<ul>
<li>The forest ecosystems of the Congo Basin;</li>
<li>Landscapes of transhumance pastoralists in North Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Chad;</li>
<li>Guinean forests of West Africa;</li>
<li>Savannahs in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa;</li>
<li>Savannahs and watersheds of the East Africa rift;</li>
<li>Transfrontier conservation areas of Southern Africa.</li>
</ul>

<p>The layer was developed to support the prioritization of intervention areas for the second phase of this initiative, which combines conservation with sustainable job creation. It provides a spatially explicit characterization of ecological value across these landscapes, evaluated and attributed based on five core ecological and environmental dimensions:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="label">Threatened Species Richness:</span> Concentration and diversity of threatened species.</li>
<li><span class="label">Species Endemicity:</span> Presence of endemic species unique to the specific geographic region.</li>
<li><span class="label">Ecosystem Integrity:</span> The integrity of protected and conserved areas, accounting for degrees of human modification and habitat fragmentation.</li>
<li><span class="label">Ecological Connectivity:</span> The degree of connectivity and spatial linkages between protected and conserved areas.</li>
<li><span class="label">Ecosystem Services:</span> Provisioning and regulating services, with a specific focus on carbon storage and water services.</li>
</ul>

<strong>Purpose</strong>
<p>The layer was created to inform the EC Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and policymakers in selecting and prioritizing funding intervention areas based on specific targets (e.g., species conservation, connectivity, or water security) within different biogeographical regions. It serves as a spatial decision-support tool to align with the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.</p>

<strong>Geographic Extent</strong>
<ul>
<li><span class="label">Region:</span> Sub-Saharan Africa</li>
<li><span class="label">Coverage:</span> 45 distinct Key Landscapes for Conservation and Development (KLCDs)</li>
</ul>

<strong>Keywords</strong>
<ul>
<li><span class="label">Thematic:</span> Biodiversity Conservation, NaturAfrica, Ecosystem Services, Protected Areas, Habitat Connectivity, Species Endemicity, European Green Deal, Ecosystem Integrity, Transfrontier Conservation, Mega-landscapes.</li>
<li><span class="label">Spatial:</span> Sub-Saharan Africa, Congo Basin, West Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, Sudano-Sahelian zone.</li>
</ul>

<strong>Lineage / Data Source</strong>
<p>This dataset is derived from the <a href="https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC145021"&gt; technical assessment conducted for the European Commission Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) </a>.</p>

Chlorophyll-a concentrations (Chla) are an indicator of phytoplankton abundance and biomass in open waters. They can be an effective measure of trophic status and are commonly used to measure water quality. This layer compares the Chla value from the last full month with the long-term mean Chla. A positive anomaly (warm colours) means the monthly Chla is higher than the long-term average for that month; a negative anomaly (cool colours) means it is lower than the average.