• Research Reputable Organisations: Choose programs with transparent practices, strong ties to local communities, and a proven track record of positive impact. Look for organisations that prioritise local leadership and sustainable development.
• Understand the Costs: Many volunteer programs involve fees that cover accommodation, food, in-country transport, and the program's operational costs. These fees are often crucial for the non-profit's sustainability.
• Be Prepared: African environments can vary greatly. Research the specific region's climate, cultural norms, and typical living conditions. Ensure you have necessary vaccinations, visas, and travel insurance.
• Manage Expectations: Volunteering is not a holiday. Be prepared for challenges, patience, and the reality that change often happens slowly. Embrace flexibility and an open mind.
• Ethical Volunteering: Focus on programs where your skills are truly needed and where you are complementing, not replacing, local labour. Avoid "voluntourism" that may inadvertently create dependency or exploit communities.

On this page we detail African volunteer work placements by country. You can either browse each country for the type of work placement you are looking for or use our powerful search facility above to search for the type of work. Please note that not all African countries have work placements all of the time and some, where there is conflict, are unsafe places to work at periods. You should always check your government advice before making volunteer arrangements. To submit your project to the directory, click here.

Before you start your African volunteer work, we recommend you read a copy of The Light House Project written by volunteers in sub-Saharan Africa and available here. While a fictitious account (see video towards the bottom of this page), it highlights the pitfalls and benefits of working within a different culture and what to avoid! Available on Amazon worldwide, one reviewer wrote "An entertaining and memorable account of what can go wrong when the goals of non-profit benefactors collide with the needs and culture of the Ugandan beneficiaries. Sure, the pitfalls of setting up and operating a non-profit abroad could have been written as an essay or a list, but it's a much better learning experience and a lot more fun to read it in novel form. The characters are well-developed and memorable, the passages often humorous, with some schadenfreude moments, and the writing style is engaging. Many situations were deja vu with my experiences in Haiti and Ethiopia. Well worth the read especially for those working with non-profits abroad. In fact, it should be required reading. Tempted to review in depth but that would be spoiling the fun, so let me just say that some of these Ugandans really put the 'con' in 'Economy'.