Africa’s population annually increases in excess of 2% per year. This growth is accompanied by an increase in population density in the fertile plains surrounding the volcanoes of the East African Rift system (EARS) and the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL). These volcanoes are related either to hotspots, the rifting in East Africa, or a combination of the two. Of the 150 African volcanoes catalogued as either active or having erupted in the past 10 ka, very few have been studied in detail, and few are monitored. This amplifies uncertainty in assessing the hazards posed by these volcanoes, which include earthquakes, lava flows, gas emissions, tephra falls, pyroclastic density currents, lahars, volcanic debris avalanches, and even tsunamis. A key to improving our knowledge base of volcanism in Africa is to understand and learn from past eruptions, their deposits and effects on the environment and population. In this session, therefore, we invite contributions concerning volcanism of the EARS and CVL, from the onset of rifting during the Cenozoic through the complicated interactions of rift- and hotspot-related volcanism to hazard assessment on active volcanoes. Presentations may vary in focus from detailed field studies of individual volcanoes (based on stratigraphic, geochronological, petrological, geochemical, and geophysical techniques, or numerical or analogue modelling approaches), to regional scale inventories and models (e.g., based on satellite remote sensing studies). We also welcome contributions concerning aspects of monitoring and risk management for African volcanoes (e.g., the threat of ash clouds to aviation; the application of Earth observation tools).