"Africa" was long overall, with a beam of and a draft of . The "King Edward VII"-class battleships displaced normally and up to fully loaded. Her crew numbered 777 officers and ratings. The "King Edward VII"-class ships were powered by a pair of 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines that drove two screws, with steam provided by sixteen water-tube boilers. The boilers were trunked into two funnels located amidships. The "King Edward VII"-class ships had a top speed of from . On her 8-hour full-power trials conducted on 3 June 1906, "Africa" reached a top speed of from an average of .