Wind speed prediction in some major cities in Africa using Linear Regression and Random Forest algorithms
Keywords:
Energy Generation, Atmospheric Parameters, Statistical Models, Machine Learning Algorithms, African StationsAbstract
Globally, wind energy if properly harnessed, could serve as a source of energy generation in Africa. This study compared the performance of two Machine Learning (ML) algorithms (Linear regression and Random Forest) in predicting wind speed in five major cities in Africa (Yaoundé, Pretoria, Nairobi, Cairo and Abuja). Wind data were collected between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2022, using the Solar Radiation Data Archive. The data preprocessing was carried out with 80% of the data used for training and 20% for validation. The performance of these ML algorithms was evaluated using Mean Square Error (MSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The result shows that Nairobi (3.814795 m/s) closely followed by Cairo (3.606453 m/s) has the highest mean wind speed while Yaoundé (1.090512 m/s) has the lowest. Based on the performance metrics used, the two Machine Learning algorithms were competitive. Still, the Linear Regression (LR) algorithm outperformed the Random Forest Algorithm in predicting wind speed in all the selected major African cities. In Yaoundé (RMSE = 0.3892, MAE= 0.3001, MAPE =0.5030), Pretoria (RMSE=1.2339, MAE=0.9480, MAPE=0.7450) Nairobi (RMSE= 0.4223, MAE =0.6499, MAPE =0.1872), Nairobi (RMSE=0.6499, MAE=0.5171, MAPE =0.1872), Cairo (RMSE =1.0909, MAE =0.8544, MAPE =0.3541) and Abuja (RMSE = 0.70245, MAE =0.5441, MAPE= 0.4515) the Linear regression algorithms was found to outperformed Random Forest Regression. Therefore, the Linear regression algorithm is more reliable in predicting wind speed compared with the Random Forest regression.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2024 Timothy Kayode Samson, Francis Olatunbosun Aweda

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
Similar Articles
- O. F. Odubanjo, O. A. Falaiye, M. M. Orosun, M. Sanni, Investigation of particulate matter Air Quality Index (AQI) and risk assessment in some locations in Nigeria , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 6, Issue 4, November 2024
- T. Daniel, A. A. McAsule, Measurement of the Excited Energies Identified in 42Ca using the ROSPHERE Gamma-ray Arrays , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 2, Issue 3, August 2020
- Kazeem A. Tijani, Chinwendu. E. Madubueze, Isaac O. Onwubuya, Nkiruka Maria-Assumpta Akabuike, John Olajide Akanni, Mathematical modelling of the dynamical system of military population, focusing on the impact of welfare , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 7, Issue 4, November 2025
- Abdelhak Erraji, Abderrahim Maizate, Mohamed Ouzzif, An integral approach for complete migration from a relational database to MongoDB , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 5, Issue 2, May 2023
- Abdulaziz G. Ahmad, Nnamdi F. Okechi, David U. Uche, Abdulwasiu O. Salaudeen, Numerical Simulation of Nonlinear and Non-Isothermal Liquid Chromatography for Studying Thermal Variations in Columns Packed with Core-Shell Particles , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 5, Issue 2, May 2023
- Uthumporn Panitanarak, Aliyu Ismail Ishaq, Alfred Adewole Abiodun, Hanita Daud, Ahmad Abubakar Suleiman, A new Maxwell-Log logistic distribution and its applications for mortality rate data , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 7, Issue 2, May 2025
- C. O. Lawani , G. J. Ibeha, Olumide Ige, D. Eli, J. O. Emmanuel, A. J. Ukwenya, P. O. Oyedare, Numerical Simulation of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide Solar Cells Using One Dimensional SCAPS Software , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 3, Issue 2, May 2021
- S. A. Abdullahi, A. G. Habib, N. Hussaini, Mathematical Model of In-host Dynamics of Snakebite Envenoming , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 2, May 2022
- Monika Saini, Ashish Kumar, Fuzzy semi-Markovian stochastic model for single-unit system with repairman arrival delay under Lindley lifetime distribution using bell-shaped membership function , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 8, Issue 3, August 2026
- Haribhau R. Bhapkar, Rezwan Ul Shaban, Shabir Ahmad Mir, Junaid Nisar, A novel approach for constructing a minimum spanning tree , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 8, Issue 4, November 2026 (in progress)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- F. O. Aweda, J. A. Akinpelu, T. K. Samson, M. Sanni, B. S. Olatinwo, Modeling and Forecasting Selected Meteorological Parameters for the Environmental Awareness in Sub-Sahel West Africa Stations , Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences: Volume 4, Issue 3, August 2022

