The first season of Big Brother Africa began on May 25, 2003 and ended on September 7 of the same year, lasting 106 days. Mark Pilgrim was the host.

Big Brother Africa 2 was the second series of the Big Brother Africa reality television show produced by Endemol. The series began airing on August 5, 2007. As with the previous series, the show involved 12 countries within Africa each producing a contestant living in an isolated house in Johanneburg, South Africa, while trying to avoid being evicted by viewers and ultimately winning a large cash prize at the end of the show. The show was filmed in a house at Sasani Studios in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg.

Big Brother Africa 3 is the third series of the Big Brother Africa reality television show produced by Endemol. The series began airing on August 24, 2008. As with the previous series, the show involves 12 countries within Africa each producing a contestant living in an isolated house in Johanneburg, South Africa, while trying to avoid being evicted by viewers and ultimately winning a large cash prize at the end of the show. The show is filmed in a house at Sasani Studios in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg. This season marks the closest vote in the history of the Big Brother series in Africa.

Big Brother Africa 4 was the fourth series of the Big Brother Africa reality television series produced by Endemol. The series began airing on September 6, 2009, and aired for 91 days, ending on December 6, 2009 on M-Net. Nigerian television star IK Osakioduwa was the new host for the series. The grand prize fund this year is $200,000.

Big Brother Africa 5 was the fifth season of the Big Brother Africa reality television series produced by Endemol. The season premiered on Sunday, July 18, 2010 and was broadcast by M-Net and M-NetAfrica for 91 days, concluding on October 17, 2010. Each week the Housemates nominated two of their own and the public voted to either save or evict them until only 5 Housemates remained on finale night. The grand prize for this season was initially $200,000, however, due to the strike that took place on Day 6, the grand prize was decreased by ten percent meaning that the winner will now receive $180,000. Since that incident and toward the end of the series, the grand prize has been reinstated as $200,000 although this reinstatement was never formally announced to the housemates and the public.

Big Brother Africa 6 is the sixth season of the Big Brother Africa reality television series produced by Endemol for M-Net which began airing on 1 May 2011 and run for 91 days until 31 July 2011. This year Mnet co-partnered with Cocacola for the series. IK returned as host for the series. The launch show was also broadcast live through the official website. This year the contestants will move into a brand new house. South African band BLKJKS performed their song 'Mzabalazo'; Busta Rhymes also performed during the 2 hour launch show. 26 contestants entered the house on 1 May although they all may not become housemates; there will be challenges to determine who will stay in the house. On day 7 all the housemates passed. All of them were removed from the house, 15 rentered the main "Heads House" while the other 11 entered the "Tails House". On day 42, it was announced that there will be 2 winners winning USD 200 000 each this year. 7 housemates vied for the grandprize during the final week of voting in which two became the winners, Karen & Wendall.

Big Brother Africa 7 was the seventh season of the Big Brother Africa reality television series produced by Endemol for M-Net. It began on 6 May 2012, with live performances from American rapper J. Cole, Kenyan hip hop group Camp Mulla, Nigerian musicians P-Square, Naeto C, Flavour and Davido, and South African artist Aemo E'Face in the opening ceremony. The show was hosted by Ikponmwosa "IK" Osakioduwa for a record fourth time. 6 housemates vied for the grandprize during the final week of voting, and eventually Keagan emerged as the winner, with Prezzo as runner-up. On Thursday, 14 February 2013; Goldie died at the age of 31 after returning from the Grammy Awards. She is the first Big Brother Africa ex-housemate to die.