Rivers in Africa Ranked by Discharge

Name: Rivers in Africa Ranked by Discharge
Creator: Wikidata
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Rivers recorded in Wikidata, ranked by Average discharge. Figures for long rivers vary between sources, depending on where the source and mouth are measured. Only items Wikidata places in Africa (directly or through their country) are included. Source: Wikidata (CC0 1.0 (public domain)).

Summary

Bulbula ranks #1 with 161.33 million m³/s. That is 1.7 times Kwa Ibo River in second place (92.9 million m³/s). The top five are Bulbula, Kwa Ibo River, Congo River, Kasai River and Niger River. The median across all 50 is 620 m³/s; Cunene River is last at 174 m³/s.

#1: Bulbula · 161.33 million m³/s
Median: 620 m³/s
Coverage: 50 rivers in Africa
Data year: As recorded in Wikidata
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: Average discharge (m³/s). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Bulbula 161.33 million; 2. Kwa Ibo River 92.9 million; 3. Congo River 41,800; 4. Kasai River 12,000; 5. Niger River 8,630; 6. Ubangi River 5,936; 7. Benue River 3,170; 8. Lomami River 3,000; 9. Nile 2,830; 10. Kwango River 2,700.

Full ranking

Rivers in Africa Ranked by Discharge
Rank	River	Location	Average discharge (m³/s)
1	Bulbula	Ethiopia	161,330,000
2	Kwa Ibo River	Nigeria	92,900,000
3	Congo River	Angola, Zambia	41,800
4	Kasai River	Angola, Congo, Dem. Rep.	12,000
5	Niger River	Mali, Benin	8,630
6	Ubangi River	Central African Republic, Congo, Rep.	5,936
7	Benue River	Cameroon, Nigeria	3,170
8	Lomami River	Congo, Dem. Rep.	3,000
9	Nile	Egypt, Arab Rep., Ethiopia	2,830
10	Kwango River	Angola, Congo, Dem. Rep.	2,700
11	Sangha	Central African Republic, Congo, Rep.	2,471
12	Gambia River	Gambia, The, Guinea	2,000
13	Uele River	Congo, Dem. Rep.	1,530
14	Blue Nile	Ethiopia, Sudan	1,525
15	Volta River	Ghana, Burkina Faso	1,288
16	Chari River	Chad, Central African Republic	1,159
17	Save River	Zimbabwe, Mozambique	908
18	White Nile	Uganda, Rwanda	878
19	Kouilou-Niari River	Congo, Rep.	856
20	Orange River	South Africa, Lesotho	800
21	Dja River	Congo, Rep., Cameroon	800
22	Rufiji River	Tanzania	792
23	Ivindo River	Gabon	778
24	Mbam River	Cameroon	710
25	Senegal River	Mali, Mauritania	640
26	Luvua River	Congo, Dem. Rep.	600
27	Cavalla River	Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire	575
28	Sassandra River	Côte d'Ivoire	541
29	Bani River	Mali	513
30	Okavango River	Angola, Botswana	500
31	Logone River	Chad, Central African Republic	492
32	Ouham River	Chad, Central African Republic	480
33	Ruvuma River	Tanzania, Mozambique	475
34	Komoé River	Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire	430
35	Sobat River	South Sudan	412
36	Jur River	South Sudan	400
37	Atbarah River	Ethiopia, Sudan	374
38	Faro River	Cameroon, Nigeria	360
39	Kagera River	Tanzania, Burundi	349
40	Ebola River	Congo, Dem. Rep.	320
41	Kafue River	Zambia	314
42	Corubal River	Guinea, Guinea-Bissau	305
43	Bonny River	Nigeria	300.2
44	Sankarani River	Mali, Guinea	265
45	Black Volta	Ghana, Burkina Faso	263
46	White Volta	Ghana, Burkina Faso	249
47	Baro River	Ethiopia, South Sudan	241
48	Pibor River	Ethiopia, South Sudan	186.3
49	Tinkisso River	Guinea	181
50	Cunene River	Angola, Namibia	174