African French is not very different in terms of words and syntax, at least what I have heard spoken. As is the case with their English, they tend to speak it very carefully and properly. They have an accent of course -- but in the case of central or southern Africans, I find it very attractive
As far as I know, you can get around with French in most places in Africa, but not so much anymore in Algeria, where they stopped using it as the official schooling language years ago. (My husband was in the first generation of people to be schooled only in Arabic, and he's 44.) So if you're lost in Algeria and need to ask directions, find old people
Northern Africans have an accent that's different from more southern places in Africa, of course, but you can get the hang of it quickly. You can even understand a lot when they speak Arabic, because it's full of borrowed French words.
Here's an example of stuff my husband says to his friends...see how much you understand:
Arabic: "Aietly demain, andak congé ou pas?"
Translation: "Call me tomorrow, do you have a day off or not?"
Arabic: "Makash portable, fi reparateur!"
Translation: "I don't have my cell phone, it's being repaired!"
Arabic: "Gultli porquoi? Gultlu je ne sais pas!"
Translation: "He said, 'why'? I said 'I don't know!'"
Sometimes they repeat the same thing, first in Arabic then in French, as in:
"Ma lesh...ce n'est pas grave!" or: "Kif-kif, pareil!"
Heh...If my husband reads this he'll be laughing his butt off
