Water is vital for our survival. Africa is the second largest and the second most populous continent after Asia. It is endowed with both natural and artificial lakes and is home to some of the largest lakes in the world. These lakes are used for fishing, recreation, transport, irrigation, power generation, disposal of waste and a variety of domestic purposes. Over the years, human factors combined with natural conditions of climate and geology have influenced their water quality and quantity to some extent. Negative impacts have resulted in environmental disruptions to some of the Lakes basins. This atlas vividly illustrates some of the changes people and nature have brought about on Africa's lakes -both good and bad- over the last decades and presents an overview analysis of Africa's lakes situation.