Energy · Africa ranking
Electricity Carbon Intensity by African country
Botswana has the highest carbon intensity of electricity of any African country, at 851 gCO₂/kWh, ahead of Libya and Republic of the Congo.
Carbon dioxide emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated — a measure of how clean the grid is (Ember via Our World in Data). 54 of 54 countries, ranked · OWID ENERGY, 2024.
Botswana
Libya
Republic of the CongoBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Electricity Carbon Intensity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Botswana | 851 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 2 | Libya | 827 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 3 | Republic of the Congo | 716 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 4 | South Africa | 699 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 5 | Niger | 674 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 6 | Gambia | 667 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 7 | Equatorial Guinea | 644 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 8 | Comoros | 643 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 9 | South Sudan | 643 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 10 | Mauritius | 642 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 11 | Algeria | 633 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 12 | Guinea-Bissau | 625 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 13 | Chad | 622 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 14 | Morocco | 596 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 15 | Benin | 584 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 16 | Eritrea | 578 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 17 | Egypt | 563 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 18 | Burkina Faso | 562 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 19 | Tunisia | 560 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 20 | Sao Tome and Principe | 556 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 21 | Seychelles | 556 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 22 | Senegal | 540 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 23 | Mali | 539 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 24 | Gabon | 523 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 25 | Mauritania | 512 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 26 | Somalia | 512 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 27 | Ghana | 469 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 28 | Cabo Verde | 462 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 29 | Nigeria | 456 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 30 | Djibouti | 450 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 31 | Madagascar | 432 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 32 | Togo | 423 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 33 | Cote d'Ivoire | 405 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 34 | Zimbabwe | 384 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 35 | Rwanda | 354 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 36 | Tanzania | 345 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 37 | Liberia | 316 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 38 | Cameroon | 226 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 39 | Angola | 185 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 40 | Burundi | 184 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 41 | Guinea | 181 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 42 | Sudan | 154 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 43 | Eswatini | 131 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 44 | Mozambique | 129 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 45 | Zambia | 120 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 46 | Kenya | 95 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 47 | Uganda | 59 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 48 | Malawi | 55 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 49 | Namibia | 49 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 50 | Sierra Leone | 48 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 51 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 28 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 52 | Ethiopia | 23 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 53 | Lesotho | 21 gCO₂/kWh | |
| 54 | Central African Republic | 0 gCO₂/kWh |
South Africa
Niger
Gambia
Equatorial Guinea
Comoros
South Sudan
Mauritius
Algeria
Guinea-Bissau
Chad
Morocco
Benin
Eritrea
Egypt
Burkina Faso
Tunisia
Sao Tome and Principe
Seychelles
Senegal
Mali
Gabon
Mauritania
Somalia
Ghana
Cabo Verde
Nigeria
Djibouti
Madagascar
Togo
Cote d'Ivoire
Zimbabwe
Rwanda
Tanzania
Liberia
Cameroon
Angola
Burundi
Guinea
Sudan
Eswatini
Mozambique
Zambia
Kenya
Uganda
Malawi
Namibia
Sierra Leone
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethiopia
Lesotho
Central African RepublicGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Electricity Carbon Intensity figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=electricity_carbon_intensity_gco2_kwh&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — OWID ENERGY, 2024. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest carbon intensity of electricity?
Botswana has the highest carbon intensity of electricity in Africa at 851 gCO₂/kWh (2024), followed by Libya and Republic of the Congo.
Which African country has the lowest carbon intensity of electricity?
Central African Republic has the lowest carbon intensity of electricity of the 54 African countries with data, at 0 gCO₂/kWh (2023).
How many African countries report Electricity Carbon Intensity data?
54 of 54 African countries have a recent Electricity Carbon Intensity figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=electricity_carbon_intensity_gco2_kwh&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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