The nighttime morphology of vertical plasma drift (V d) inferred from ground-based measurements of the F layer height at Ouagadougou (12.4°N, 358.6°E) in the African Equatorial Ionization Anomaly trough was investigated. The observation covers four seasons, four sunspot cycle phases, annual, and 11 year sunspot cycle (SC) variations of the SCs 20–22 spanning 1966–1998 and a first attempt of such study. The annual mean peak magnitudes of V d during the prereversal enhancement (PRE) and minimum reversal periods exhibit the 11 year sunspot cycle evolution with the sunspot number (Rz). The PRE peak/Rz and reversal peak/Rz relationships are 98.7% and 84.8%, respectively. PRE peak in June solstice appears 1 h later than for other seasons and is attributed to a decrease in the equatorial zonal wind/conductivity gradient. The highest PRE magnitude and downward perturbation drifts near dusk appear during the equinoxes and lowest in June solstice for all cycles. There is semiannual asymmetry in the variation of V d during all cycles of the PRE event with peaks in March and September/October. A remarkable feature is the consistent local presunrise drift enhancement for two SCs 20 and 21, which is not a regular feature of the equatorial ionosphere. The rate of inhibition of scintillation effect increases with decreasing phase of sunspot activity and maximizes during the solstices. Both the PRE and minimum reversal peak magnitudes are influenced by the phase of sunspot cycle. Ouagadougou data in this study had shown reliable drift characteristics and can be integrated into the African regional empirical drift model.