Hourly images registered by the Meteosat satellite are used to derive the global irradiance al ground level. Keeping almost the full spatial information of the original images, maps of irradiance characteristics for Africa are derived with a resolution of approx. 10 x 10 km(2). Monthly irradiance conditions are characterized by means and standard deviations of daily sums and the irradiance of specific daytime hours. The data also allow for the extraction of irradiance time series for specific sites. In addition, the analysis of the spatial structure of the satellite-derived irradiance fields is used to identify regions in which the radiation characteristics call for special attention.