Region
Africa
119 entries covering Africa.
Roofing Materials
- Concrete Roof TileA roof tile moulded from sand, cement and pigment; a heavy, economical alternative to clay made in many profiles worldwide.
- Corrugated Iron (Corrugated Galvanised Iron)Corrugated iron is sheet metal rolled into parallel waves for stiffness; patented in 1829, it became a defining roofing material of farms, colonies and industry.
- IBR Roof SheetingIBR (inverted box rib) is a trapezoidal profiled steel roof and wall sheet widely used in southern Africa, typically covering 686 mm per sheet.
- Mud RoofA roof finished with compacted earth or clay over timber beams and a layer of matting or brush, traditional in dry regions worldwide; also called an earth roof.
- Palm and Grass ThatchThatch made from palm fronds, leaves or tropical grasses, used for traditional and resort buildings across tropical Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas.
- ThatchA roof covering of dry plant stems such as reed, straw, sedge, palm or grass, laid thickly so rain runs off the outer layer.
- Water Reed ThatchThatch made from the stems of common reed harvested from wetlands; the most durable thatching material in northern Europe.
Installation & Methods
Standards, Codes & Testing
Manufacturers
- BMI GroupBMI Group is Standard Industries' European-based roofing and waterproofing group, formed in 2017 from Braas Monier and Icopal.
- Mabati Rolling MillsMabati Rolling Mills is a Kenyan maker of coated steel roofing sheets and tiles and part of Safal Group, which operates in nine African countries.
History of Roofing
- Border CaveRock shelter in South Africa's Lebombo Mountains with grass bedding about 200,000 years old, among the earliest evidence of prepared resting places.
- Global Spread of Corrugated IronHow corrugated galvanised iron travelled from Britain to colonial Australia, Africa, the Americas and Asia, becoming one of the world's most common roofs.
- Hassan FathyEgyptian architect (1900-1989) who revived Nubian mud-brick vaults and domes for low-cost housing, most famously at New Gourna near Luxor.
- Imbrex and TegulaThe ancient Greek and Roman roof tile system of flat tiles (tegulae) with half-round tiles (imbrices) covering the joints.
- Kalambo Falls Wooden StructureTwo notched, joined logs from Kalambo Falls, Zambia, dated to at least 476,000 years ago: the oldest known structural use of wood.
- Nyakatsi (Rwandan Thatched House)Nyakatsi is the Kinyarwanda term for a grass-thatched house; Rwanda's 2009-2011 'Bye Bye Nyakatsi' campaign replaced them with metal-roofed homes.
- Ramesseum Granary VaultsMud-brick barrel-vaulted storerooms at the Ramesseum in Luxor, built under Ramesses II in the 13th century BC; among Egypt's oldest standing true arches.
Roofing Around the World
- Ambohimanga Royal HousesRoyal timber houses on the hill of Ambohimanga, Madagascar, including Andrianampoinimerina's rosewood house with a peaked roof on a 10 m pillar; UNESCO 2001.
- AqalPortable Somali dome hut of bent saplings tied to central poles and covered with woven mats, built by women and carried by camel.
- Asante Traditional BuildingsEarth-and-timber shrine houses near Kumasi, Ghana, once steeply thatched with palm fronds and now mostly roofed in corrugated iron.
- Bamileke Conical RoofBamileke buildings of Cameroon's West Region pair square bamboo-panel walls with tall conical roofs; chiefdom great huts reach about 17 m.
- Batammariba Takienta (Tower-House)Earthen tower-house of the Batammariba of northern Togo and Benin, with livestock below and granaries standing on the roof terrace.
- Cape Dutch ThatchThatched roofs over whitewashed walls and ornate gables, the signature of Cape Dutch architecture in South Africa's Western Cape.
- Diola Impluvium HouseRound earth house of the Diola (Jola) of Casamance, Senegal, whose thatched roof slopes inward to collect rain in a central basin.
- Djenné Earthen ArchitectureMud-brick houses and the Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali, with earth-covered palm-timber roofs maintained by an annual community replastering.
- Dogon ArchitectureEarthen houses, thatched granaries and low toguna shelters of the Dogon on the Bandiagara cliffs of Mali.
- Fouta Djallon Thatched ArchitectureRound earth houses and mosques of the Fulbe (Peul) of Guinea's Fouta Djallon highlands, crowned with heavy conical thatched roofs.
- Funco (Cabo Verde Round House)Traditional round stone house of Cabo Verde with a conical roof thatched with palm fronds, found mainly on Fogo, Santiago and Maio.
- Gando Primary SchoolSchool in Gando, Burkina Faso (2001), by Diébédo Francis Kéré, known for a raised metal roof floating over a ventilated earth-block ceiling.
- Great ZimbabweMedieval stone-walled capital in Zimbabwe (c. 1100-1450) whose people lived in daga huts inside and around dry-stone enclosures; UNESCO site since 1986.
- Hausa Earth Vaults and DomesFlat roofs, arches and domes of earth over cantilevered deleb-palm timber, built by Hausa master masons in northern Nigeria and Niger.
- HidmoTraditional rectangular stone house of Tigray (Ethiopia) and highland Eritrea, with timber ceilings carried on posts and a flat roof of soil.
- KershefBuilding material of Egypt's Siwa Oasis made of salt rock and mud, used with palm-trunk roofs in the old fortress-town of Shali.
- Krio Board HouseTimber house of Freetown's Krio community in Sierra Leone, traced to 18th-century settlers from North America; now rare and often roofed in metal.
- Maasai EnkajiThe enkaji is the Maasai house of Kenya and Tanzania: a low, loaf-shaped shell of poles and sticks whose roof is plastered with cow dung and mud by women.
- Macuti HouseTraditional house of Mozambique Island with a hipped roof of coconut palm leaves (macuti) on mangrove poles; it gave the island's southern Macuti Town its name.
- Makuti ThatchMakuti is East African coastal thatch made of coconut palm leaves stitched over sticks into panels, tied to roof battens with sisal fibre.
- Matmata Troglodyte HousesUnderground pit dwellings in southern Tunisia: rooms carved around a large open pit, so the ground itself forms the roof.
- Mongulu (Baka Leaf Hut)The móngulu is the dome-shaped leaf hut of the Baka of the Central African rainforest: thin branches bent into a hemisphere and shingled with large leaves.
- Moroccan Green Roof TilesGreen glazed ceramic tiles covering pitched wooden roofs of Moroccan mosques, minaret caps, fountains and shrines, as at Fez's Al-Hamra Mosque.
- Mugamba RugoThe rugo is Burundi's traditional round house: a dome of bent poles bound with papyrus rings and thatched in straw, on UNESCO's tentative list since 2007.
- Musgum Tolek (Earthen Dome House)The tolek is the Musgum earthen dome house of northern Cameroon: a self-supporting mud shell up to about 9 m tall, built in coils with raised ribs.
- Muzibu Azaala Mpanga (Kasubi Tombs)The Muzibu Azaala Mpanga at Kasubi, Kampala, is the great thatched dome housing Buganda royal tombs; burned in 2010, it was rebuilt by 2023.
- Ndebele House PaintingSouthern Ndebele tradition, from the 18th century, of painting bold geometric designs on the mud walls of homesteads in South Africa.
- New GournaVillage near Luxor, Egypt, built 1946-1952 by Hassan Fathy with mud-brick Nubian vaults and domes; subject of a UNESCO safeguarding project.
- Nubian VaultEarth-brick vaulted roof built without formwork or timber, revived in Egypt by Hassan Fathy and now promoted across the Sahel.
- Old Town of GhadamesLibyan oasis town of mud-brick houses with palm-timber roofs, roofed streets, and rooftop terraces reserved for women; a World Heritage site since 1986.
- Ravinala ThatchRoofing of Madagascar's east coast made from the fronds of the traveller's palm (ravinala), whose flattened trunks also supply boards for floors and roofs.
- Rock-Hewn Churches of LalibelaEleven medieval churches carved from basalt in Lalibela, Ethiopia; their rock roofs have been covered since 2008 by temporary EU-funded shelters.
- RondavelRound Southern African house with a conical thatched roof on a cylindrical wall, found in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana.
- Roofing in AlgeriaAlgeria's best-documented roofing heritage is that of the Saharan ksour, above all the five fortified towns of the M'zab Valley, a World Heritage site.
- Roofing in AngolaAngolan homes are roofed with zinc sheet, fibre cement, tile, concrete slab or grass thatch; Mbanza Kongo preserves Kongo and Portuguese building.
- Roofing in BeninMost Beninese homes are roofed with metal sheet (tôle); heritage roofs include the straw and metal roofs of the Abomey palaces and the takienta of the north.
- Roofing in BotswanaBotswana's Tswana houses have conical thatched roofs on clay-plastered walls with verandahs; modern homes use iron sheet, asbestos and concrete tiles.
- Roofing in Burkina FasoBurkina Faso combines Sahelian earth roofs and Kassena painted houses with metal sheet, plus influential low-tech roofs such as Gando and Nubian vaults.
- Roofing in BurundiBurundi's traditional roof is the domed straw thatch of the round rugo house, built on a frame of bent poles; recent national roofing data are scarce.
- Roofing in Cabo VerdeCabo Verde is roofed overwhelmingly with flat concrete slabs; its traditional funco round house with palm thatch survives only in a few villages.
- Roofing in CameroonCameroon's roofs range from Musgum earthen domes and Bamileke conical thatch to Baka leaf huts; corrugated iron has replaced many older forms.
- Roofing in ChadChad's roofs range from flat earth roofs of Kotoko walled towns and thatched round huts in the south to nomads' tents; iron and concrete are spreading fast.
- Roofing in ComorosRoofing in the Comoros is poorly documented; the islands' historic Swahili stone medinas, inscribed by UNESCO in 2026, are the best-recorded buildings.
- Roofing in Côte d'IvoireCôte d'Ivoire roofs are overwhelmingly metal sheet (tôle) over concrete-block houses; its earthen Sudanese-style mosques are its main heritage roofs.
- Roofing in DjiboutiDjibouti's traditional shelters are portable Afar and Somali huts of branches and woven mats; towns use stone, coral and masonry with white-painted walls.
- Roofing in East AfricaOverview of roofing in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia: grass thatch traditions largely replaced by corrugated iron sheets (mabati).
- Roofing in EgyptEgypt's roofs run from stone-slab temple roofs and some of the oldest standing mud-brick vaults to Nubian domes, Siwa salt-mud houses and today's concrete.
- Roofing in Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea combines Spanish colonial buildings in Malabo and Bata with Fang villages centred on the abaá, a communal 'house of the word'.
- Roofing in EritreaEritrea's roofs range from flat soil-roofed hidmo stone houses and agudo round huts to the modernist concrete of Asmara, a World Heritage city since 2017.
- Roofing in EswatiniEswatini homes are overwhelmingly roofed with corrugated metal sheet; grass thatch survives on a small share of homes, including round thatched huts.
- Roofing in EthiopiaEthiopia's roofs range from Lalibela's rock-hewn churches and Tigray's soil-roofed hidmo to thatched tukuls; corrugated iron now rivals thatch.
- Roofing in GabonGabon's cheapest village houses are mud under palm fronds; brick and cinder-block houses take corrugated metal roofs, and Baka camps use leaf domes.
- Roofing in GhanaGhana's roofs are overwhelmingly metal sheet today, replacing palm and grass thatch; the 2021 census also records asbestos, concrete and earth roofs.
- Roofing in GuineaGuinea is mostly roofed with metal sheet, but nearly a quarter of homes kept thatch in 2013; Fouta Djallon is known for heavy conical thatched roofs.
- Roofing in Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau's homes are mostly roofed with zinc or metal sheet, but about a fifth are still thatched with straw, one of the highest shares in the region.
- Roofing in KenyaKenya is roofed mainly in iron sheets (mabati): 80% of households in the 2019 census, replacing grass, papyrus, dung and palm-leaf makuti roofs.
- Roofing in LesothoMost Lesotho homes have corrugated metal roofs, while thatched round houses (mokhoro) still make up over a quarter of households in survey data.
- Roofing in LiberiaLiberia's homes are mainly roofed with zinc (corrugated metal sheet), which has steadily replaced the thatch of rural villages.
- Roofing in LibyaLibya's best-documented traditional roofs are in Ghadames, where mud-brick houses with palm-trunk structure carry rooftop terraces reserved for women.
- Roofing in MadagascarMadagascar roofs are mostly grass or palm thatch and metal sheet; the highlands add steep tiled brick houses and royal timber houses with roof horns.
- Roofing in MalawiMalawi is split between iron-sheet and grass-thatch roofs: in recent survey data metal sheet covers just over half of households and thatch most of the rest.
- Roofing in MaliMali is a heartland of flat earth roofs on timber, from Djenné and Timbuktu to Dogon villages; metal sheet and concrete now dominate new building.
- Roofing in MauritaniaMauritania's caravan towns of Chinguetti and Ouadane are built of dry stone with flat roofs timbered in palm wood; nomadic tents were long the main shelter.
- Roofing in MauritiusMauritius moved from thatch and iron-on-timber roofs to concrete after cyclones Alix and Carol destroyed nearly 40% of its housing in 1960.
- Roofing in MoroccoMorocco combines flat earth roofs of kasbahs and ksour, cedar ceilings, green-tiled pitched roofs on mosques, and flat roofs required in new districts from 1914.
- Roofing in MozambiqueMozambique's roofs range from the palm-leaf macuti houses and stone town of Mozambique Island to today's corrugated iron and fibre-cement sheet.
- Roofing in NamibiaMost Namibian homes are roofed with corrugated iron, but grass thatch still covered about a quarter of households in the 2011 census sample.
- Roofing in NigerIn Niger, flat earth roofs remain among the most common, alongside metal sheet and straw; Agadez is a landmark of Saharan mud-brick building.
- Roofing in NigeriaNigerian roofing runs from Hausa earth domes and Yoruba and Igbo thatch to today's near-universal metal sheet, locally called 'zinc', and concrete slabs.
- Roofing in North AfricaOverview of roofing in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt: flat roof terraces, earth kasbahs, domes and vaults, cedar ceilings and concrete today.
- Roofing in RwandaRwanda's roofs are iron sheets and locally made clay tiles; grass-thatched nyakatsi houses were removed nationwide in a 2009-2011 government campaign.
- Roofing in São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe's built heritage is dominated by about 200 colonial cocoa and coffee roças; six were inscribed as World Heritage in 2026.
- Roofing in SenegalSenegal mixes metal sheet, concrete slabs and thatch more evenly than its neighbours; Dakar is mostly concrete, while Casamance has thatched impluvium houses.
- Roofing in SeychellesSeychelles Creole houses have high-pitched roofs, first of pandanus thatch and, after 1902 in Victoria, corrugated iron, over timber frames and verandahs.
- Roofing in Sierra LeoneMost Sierra Leone homes have corrugated metal ('zinc') roofs; thatch survives in rural areas and Freetown's timber Krio board houses are a threatened heritage.
- Roofing in SomaliaSomalia's roofs range from the nomadic aqal, a dome of saplings and woven mats, to medieval stone and coral-stone towns such as Mogadishu's Hamar Weyne.
- Roofing in South AfricaSouth African homes are mostly roofed in corrugated metal and tile, with a regulated thatching trade (SANS 10407) and shelter evidence back to Border Cave.
- Roofing in South SudanIn South Sudan most households live in round tukul huts with conical grass-thatch roofs; metal sheet covered only about 3% of homes in a 2010 survey sample.
- Roofing in Southern AfricaOverview of Southern African roofing: thatched rondavels and Cape Dutch homes, widespread corrugated iron, and concrete and clay tiles in suburbs.
- Roofing in SudanSudan's roofs range from Nubian mud-brick vaults and flat clay roofs to thatched round huts; thatch, local earth roofs and metal sheet dominate today.
- Roofing in TanzaniaTanzania is roofed mostly in iron sheets (85% of households in 2022), with grass or leaf thatch at 12%; its coast has medieval coral-stone domes and vaults.
- Roofing in the Central African RepublicMost Central African Republic homes are sun-dried brick under wild-grass or palm-frond thatch; cement-block houses with metal-sheet roofs mark wealth.
- Roofing in the Democratic Republic of the CongoMost DRC households still live under thatch or palm leaf, with metal sheet on under a third (2017-18); Mangbetu royal halls were vast timber vaults.
- Roofing in the GambiaIn the Gambia about four in five homes are roofed with corrugated metal sheet, about one in ten with thatch, and a few with concrete.
- Roofing in the Republic of the CongoIn the Republic of the Congo, village houses are mostly mud brick with thatched or metal roofs, while urban houses in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire are concrete.
- Roofing in TogoTogo's roofs are now mostly metal sheet, replacing the thatch still common in 2010; the Batammariba tower-houses of Koutammakou are its roofing landmark.
- Roofing in TunisiaTunisia's roofs include early Islamic domes at Kairouan, fortified flat terraces on Djerba, and Matmata's pit houses, which have no roof at all.
- Roofing in UgandaUganda's roofs are mostly iron sheets (72% of households in 2014) but thatch still covered a quarter of homes; the Kasubi royal tombs are a great thatched dome.
- Roofing in West AfricaOverview of West African roofing: Sahelian earth roofs and coastal thatch traditions, now mostly corrugated metal and concrete slabs.
- Roofing in ZambiaZambian roofs are mainly metal sheet and grass thatch; national surveys also record asbestos, cement-fibre sheet, mud tiles and 'harvey tiles'.
- Roofing in ZimbabweZimbabwe's roofs run from Great Zimbabwe's daga huts and thatch to modern asbestos-cement and iron sheet, which cover most homes in recent surveys.
- Royal Palaces of AbomeyEarth-walled palaces of the Dahomey kings in Abomey, Benin, roofed with straw and sheet metal and decorated with painted bas-reliefs.
- Sahelian Earthen RoofsFlat or slightly domed roofs of timber and mud used across the Sudano-Sahelian belt of West Africa, from Mali to northern Nigeria.
- Seychellois Creole HouseTimber house of the Seychelles with a high-pitched roof, first of pandanus thatch and later corrugated iron, a large verandah and raised stone foundations.
- Swahili Coral-Stone HouseThe Swahili coral-stone house of the East African coast has lime-bonded coral walls and heavy coral roofs on mangrove-pole joists that limit rooms to about 3 m wide.
- TandrotranoMalagasy 'roof horns': gable timbers crossed above the ridge of highland houses, whose length once signalled the rank of a noble family.
- TukulRound hut of mud, poles and grass with a conical thatched roof, typical of South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
- Zulu Beehive HutHemispherical Zulu dwelling (indlu) of bent sapling arches covered in two layers of grass thatch, tied down by ropes gathered at an apex top-knot.
Climate, Hazards & Sustainability
- Rainwater Harvesting from RoofsCollecting rain that falls on a roof for storage and reuse, and how the roof material affects the quality of the collected water.
- UV and Heat Degradation of RoofingHow sunlight and heat break down roofing materials over time through photo-oxidation, embrittlement, chalking and loss of protective surfaces.