The taxonomy of the genus Genetta has been hotly debated. Following recent clarifications on the phylogeny of and species boundaries within the genets, we propose a new classification, including discriminant morphological diagnoses, which provides for the first time a synthetic description of the reassessed species diversity within the genus (17 species). Prospects concerning further investigations on the systematics of the genets are discussed. Keywords: Carnivora, Viverridae, Genetta, phylogenetic systematics, integrative taxonomy, classification, diagnosis, discrete characters, distribution, habitat, Africa.