Energy · Africa ranking
Hydropower Capacity by African country
Ethiopia has the highest installed hydropower capacity of any African country, at 9.2K MW — 2.5× Angola's 3.7K MW.
Installed hydropower electricity capacity, in megawatts (IRENA). 41 of 54 countries, ranked · IRENA RENEWABLES, 2025.
Ethiopia
Angola
Democratic Republic of the CongoBy region
The top 5 countries account for 49% of Africa's total installed hydropower capacity.
Full ranking
| # | Country | Hydropower Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethiopia | 9.2K MW | |
| 2 | Angola | 3.7K MW | |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 3.2K MW | |
| 4 | Zambia | 3.2K MW | |
| 5 | Nigeria | 2.9K MW | |
| 6 | Egypt | 2.8K MW | |
| 7 | Tanzania | 2.8K MW | |
| 8 | Mozambique | 2.2K MW | |
| 9 | Uganda | 1.7K MW | |
| 10 | Ghana | 1.6K MW | |
| 11 | Sudan | 1.5K MW | |
| 12 | Cameroon | 1.4K MW | |
| 13 | Morocco | 1.3K MW | |
| 14 | Zimbabwe | 1.1K MW | |
| 15 | Cote d'Ivoire | 990 MW | |
| 16 | Kenya | 892.7 MW | |
| 17 | Guinea | 814.2 MW | |
| 18 | South Africa | 751.7 MW | |
| 19 | Mali | 455.3 MW | |
| 20 | Malawi | 392.6 MW | |
| 21 | Namibia | 351 MW | |
| 22 | Gabon | 319.6 MW | |
| 23 | Republic of the Congo | 213.9 MW | |
| 24 | Madagascar | 192.6 MW | |
| 25 | Burundi | 164 MW | |
| 26 | Algeria | 128.9 MW | |
| 27 | Senegal | 127.2 MW | |
| 28 | Equatorial Guinea | 127.1 MW | |
| 29 | Rwanda | 110.8 MW | |
| 30 | Liberia | 94.9 MW | |
| 31 | Lesotho | 75.2 MW | |
| 32 | Togo | 66.6 MW | |
| 33 | Tunisia | 66 MW | |
| 34 | Eswatini | 63.5 MW | |
| 35 | Mauritius | 61.7 MW | |
| 36 | Sierra Leone | 60.9 MW | |
| 37 | Burkina Faso | 34 MW | |
| 38 | Central African Republic | 18.9 MW | |
| 39 | Sao Tome and Principe | 1.9 MW | |
| 40 | Comoros | 1.5 MW | |
| 41 | Benin | 0.5 MW |
Zambia
Nigeria
Egypt
Tanzania
Mozambique
Uganda
Ghana
Sudan
Cameroon
Morocco
Zimbabwe
Cote d'Ivoire
Kenya
Guinea
South Africa
Mali
Malawi
Namibia
Gabon
Republic of the Congo
Madagascar
Burundi
Algeria
Senegal
Equatorial Guinea
Rwanda
Liberia
Lesotho
Togo
Tunisia
Eswatini
Mauritius
Sierra Leone
Burkina Faso
Central African Republic
Sao Tome and Principe
Comoros
BeninGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Hydropower Capacity figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=hydro_capacity_mw&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — IRENA RENEWABLES, 2025. 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 installed hydropower capacity?
Ethiopia has the highest installed hydropower capacity in Africa at 9.2K MW (2025), followed by Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Which African country has the lowest installed hydropower capacity?
Benin has the lowest installed hydropower capacity of the 41 African countries with data, at 0.5 MW (2025).
How many African countries report Hydropower Capacity data?
41 of 54 African countries have a recent Hydropower Capacity 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=hydro_capacity_mw&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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