The dataset comprises high resolution (0.0375 degrees) satellite-derived daily rainfall estimates for all Africa from January 1983 to December 2016 (data from 2017 onwards can be downloaded from the TAMSAT website: http://www.tamsat.org.uk/). The dataset is derived from the TAMSAT African Rainfall Climatology And Time-series (TARCAT) dataset (1983-present). Further details can be found on the TAMSAT website.