[3] Africa Spectrum is published three times a year by the GIGA Institute of African Affairs.

The journal is part of the GIGA Journal Family of the GIGA-Institute of African Affairs (Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung/Institute of African Studies (Hamburg) within the German Institute for Global and Area Studies in (Hamburg, Germany).

Africa Spectrum is double-blind peer reviewed and, as of 2024, tied as the highest ranked African studies journal.

Its intended audiences are academics, students, general readers, and practitioners with a concern for contemporary Africa.

Since 2003, the journal collaborates closely with the Association of Africanists in Germany (Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland, VAD).