MCP server for Africa API — access data on all 54 African countries through Claude
An MCP server that gives Claude direct access to the Africa API — comprehensive data on all 54 African nations including economic indicators, markets, trade, government, elections, and policies.
Sign up at africa-api.com and create an API key from your dashboard.
The server runs on demand via npx — nothing to install or host. Pick your client:
Claude Code (one command):
claude mcp add africa-api -e AFRICA_API_KEY=your-api-key-here -- npx -y africa-api-mcp
Claude Desktop — add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart:
{
"mcpServers": {
"africa-api": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "africa-api-mcp"],
"env": { "AFRICA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" }
}
}
}
Cursor — add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per project) with the same mcpServers block as above.
VS Code (Copilot agent mode) — one command:
code --add-mcp '{"name":"africa-api","command":"npx","args":["-y","africa-api-mcp"],"env":{"AFRICA_API_KEY":"your-api-key-here"}}'
Any other MCP client works with the same npx -y africa-api-mcp command plus the AFRICA_API_KEY environment variable. The server is also listed in the MCP Registry as io.github.africa-api/africa-api-mcp.
Once connected, Claude can answer questions like:
41 tools across 9 domains:
| Domain | Tools | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Countries | 4 | Country details, profiles, real-time signals for all 54 nations |
| Indicators & Data | 4 | 200+ indicators (GDP, population, health, energy, trade, etc.), time-series queries, country rankings |
| Government | 6 | Heads of state, cabinets, leadership terms — current and historical |
| Elections | 5 | Election results, upcoming elections, country overviews |
| Markets | 8 | Stock exchanges, index levels, listed securities, price history, FX rates |
| Trade | 4 | Bilateral trade flows, top partners, product breakdowns |
| Policies | 6 | Laws, regulations, policy timelines, lifecycle events |
| Sources & platform | 3 | Data provenance and platform info — World Bank, IMF, UN, Ember, central banks |
| Geographies | 1 | Continent / region / subregion hierarchy |
All tools are read-only (annotated readOnly + idempotent) and return both human-readable text and structured JSON output for programmatic clients.
| Environment Variable | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
AFRICA_API_KEY | Yes | — | Your Africa API bearer token |
AFRICA_API_BASE_URL | No | https://api.africa-api.com | Override for local development |
git clone https://github.com/africa-api/africa-api-mcp.git
cd africa-api-mcp
npm install
npm run build
# Run directly
AFRICA_API_KEY=your-key node dist/index.js
# Test with MCP inspector
AFRICA_API_KEY=your-key npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js
MIT
Source-derived launch command. Check the maintainer’s required arguments and credentials before running:
npx -y africa-api-mcpMerge this template into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Keep existing servers. Add any arguments, credentials, and permissions required by the maintainer; this template has not been install-tested.
{
"mcpServers": {
"io-github-africa-api-africa-api-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"africa-api-mcp"
]
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect. Confirm the server appears connected in the client’s tool list, then try a read-only example from its documentation.
Claude Desktop setup referenceafrica-api-mcpnpmio.github.africa-api/africa-api-mcp works with any MCP-compatible client. Copy the config snippet from the Configuration section above and add it to the file shown for your client, then restart the application.
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.jsonRestart Claude Desktop completely for changes to take effect.~/.cursor/mcp.jsonRestart Cursor for changes to take effect..vscode/mcp.jsonReload VS Code window for changes to take effect.~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonRestart Windsurf for changes to take effect..mcp.jsonSave at the project root, then start Claude Code in that project and review the MCP server approval prompt. Keep real credentials out of shared files.