To mitigate a continuously increasing flood risk in Africa, sustainable actions are urgently needed. In this context, we describe a comprehensive statistical analysis of flood data in the African continent. The study refers to quality-controlled, large and consistent databases of flood data, i.e. maximum discharge value and times series of annual maximum flows. Probabilistic envelope curves are derived for the African continent by means of a large scale regional analysis. Moreover, some initial insights on the statistical characteristics of African floods are provided. The results of this study are relevant and can be used to get some indications to support flood management in Africa.