Over the last five decades the growing demand for freshwater has created water shortages in many parts of the world. Reliable assessment of groundwater resources, required to supply rapidly growing populations in Africa under a changing climate, places extraordinary demands upon the field of hydrogeology. The limited knowledge of groundwater resources on a national scale hampers development and managed use of this resource in many countries of Africa. Effective management of Africa’s groundwater resources is therefore challenging under these conditions and requires improved monitoring of groundwater resources. While new solutions are needed to meet future water demands globally, critical shortfalls exist in Africa of sustained monitoring of basic hydrogeological parameters. This paper reflects on the shortfalls in the designs, construction and maintenance of groundwater databases and presents case studies that employ monitoring data with current challenges in modelling groundwater use in Africa. Prior to identifying possible strategies and cost-effective techniques for groundwater monitoring, cognizance of constraints and considerations such as responsibility and funding is considered in this study. Proposed strategies consider the level of information required at country- and continent-scale, available resources, monitoring frequencies, funding and the use of a pilot-scale study to initiate national or continent-wide monitoring networks. Keywords: groundwater database, resource monitoring, groundwater management, Sub-Saharan Africa.