Air d'Afrique CLAIR · Climate, Air, Information, Resilience
PM2.5µg/m³ · 24 h
Departures · Air quality
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Sub-Saharan Africa · Climate · Health

The air Sub-Saharan Africa breathes

Air pollution is one of the continent's leading health risks, and one of the least measured. Air d'Afrique tracks the data, the news and the solutions, city by city.

15µg/m³: WHO 24-hour guideline for PM2.5

Air quality, capital by capital

24-hour averages of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10) particles, ranked from highest to lowest. The mark on each bar shows the WHO 24-hour guideline.

City PM2.5 Scale PM10 × WHO Index Source

Cleaning the air: what works, with evidence

Only solutions whose effectiveness has been measured in published studies are listed here, with their level of evidence and their limits. People spend most of their time indoors: that is where action can start now.

Randomised trial

Portable HEPA air cleaner

−60 %PM2.5 in the bedroom, −42% in the living area, measured over one year

Two units per home, running continuously, in homes of children with asthma.

Limits: study carried out in the United States; needs continuous electricity and replacement filters. A team is testing battery power for outages in Uganda.

Farquhar et al., Indoor Air, 2021
Real-room measurements

Do-it-yourself filter box (Corsi-Rosenthal)

×10cheaper per m³ of clean air than a commercial HEPA cleaner

A box fan and five MERV-13 filters, about $58 in parts. Measured clean air delivery: 1,000 to 1,450 m³/h, against 220 to 485 m³/h for two HEPA cleaners.

Limits: filters less fine than HEPA, noisier (58 to 67 dB), tested on particles above 0.5 µm in two empty rooms.

Dal Porto et al., Aerosol Sci. Technol., 2022
Pilot trial, incl. Rwanda

Cooking with gas (LPG) instead of wood and charcoal

−92 %PM2.5 in the kitchen, −74% personal exposure

Not an air cleaner: it removes the source. It is the most effective measure against household air pollution.

Limits: pilot trial with 40 pregnant women per country and free fuel; fuel cost determines lasting use.

HAPIN, Environmental Pollution, 2021

Choosing and using well

  • Check the clean air delivery rate (CADR): a common benchmark is at least 5 times the room volume per hour.
  • Choose a HEPA or MERV-13 filter and plan replacement filters; dust clogs them faster.
  • Close doors and windows during pollution peaks and keep the unit running.
  • Prefer certified models (AHAM-verified CADR, CARB ozone certification).

Avoid

  • Ozone generators, which California's air agency strongly advises against at home.
  • Uncertified ionizers and electrostatic precipitators, which can emit ozone.
  • Devices with no stated CADR: their effectiveness cannot be checked.
Train and equipsoon

Filter-box assembly workshops, air quality assessments in schools and health centres, support for local authorities and businesses.

Method and confidence levels

Air d'Afrique shows only published, public data. Every value carries a confidence level, from most reliable to most indirect.

AReference measurement

Gravimetric or BAM stations: US embassy archives (until March 2025), South Africa's SAAQIS network.

BCalibrated measurement

Low-cost sensors corrected against reference instruments: AirQo, OpenAQ.

CEstimate

Models and satellites: CAMS, ACAG, MODIS AOD. Useful for comparisons and trends, likely underestimated in cities.

Our rules

  • 24-hour averages are compared with WHO 24-hour thresholds, never an hourly value.
  • A covariation reads "goes together with", never "causes".
  • Deaths attributed to air pollution (GBD, WHO) are estimates computed from exposure, and presented as such.
  • No unpublished health data: we cite study results, not their data.

Coming next

  • 50 years of air: airport visibility records since the 1970ssoon
  • Embassy history: reference measurements by capital, 2016-2025soon
  • Dust and fire episodes tracked by satellite (AOD)soon

News

A digest published every Monday in French and English: climate events, public policy, research and air quality innovation.

Weekly digest

First edition on Monday 9 November

The week's 6 to 10 key stories, summarised and sourced.

Section

Number of the week

One striking climate or air figure, put in context.

Section

What to watch

Reports, conferences and policy deadlines in the weeks ahead.

Driving Action for Climate Resilience and Sustainability

A training programme for young professionals, policymakers, entrepreneurs and civil society organisations, in six modules and a capstone project.

  1. M1
    Understanding climate changeClimate science, Paris Agreement, sector impacts
  2. M2
    Data and technologySensors, GIS, modelling, the AirQo case
  3. M3
    Climate law and advocacyLitigation, climate justice, public policy
  4. M4
    Business resilienceClimate risk, circular economy
  5. M5
    Climate communicationStakeholders, transparency, avoiding greenwashing
  6. M6
    Local entrepreneurshipGrassroots solutions, funding, scaling up

Data sources

The networks that measure particulate matter in the region and publish their data.

AirQoAbout 600 sensors in more than 14 African countries
sensors.AFRICAOpen sensors in Nairobi, Lagos, Kampala, Dar es Salaam…
OpenAQGlobal aggregator of open data, with an API
SAAQISSouth Africa's official reference station network
WAQIReal-time indices by station
Open-Meteo / CAMSModelled estimates for every capital