Excellent atmospheric science and air pollution research is being done across Africa, but efforts are often limited in duration, and locally or regionally isolated. A group of 30 atmospheric scientists and stakeholders, from across Africa and the world, participated in the IGAC Africa Scoping Workshop and discussed ways to begin to address this issue. The attendees of the workshop set out the intent to: 1) unite atmospheric expertise across the African continent, and 2) to work with the global community to identify and address pressing atmospheric science questions that could improve the lives of the continent’s citizens and protect the environment.