The present study was designed to investigate the inflammatory and antioxidant activities of ethanolic leaf extract of Brownlowia tersa (L.) Kosterm. The anti-inflammatory activity of leaf extract was studied using carrageenan and histamine-induced rat paw edema test at different doses (200 and 400 mg/kg body weight). DPPH free radical scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging, reducing power, Fe++ ion chelating ability and total phenolic content were used for determining antioxidant activities. The extract, at the dose of 400 mg/kg, showed a significant anti-inflammatory activity (P < 0.01) both in the carrageenan and histamine-induced edema test models in rats showing 54.76 % and 56.96 % reduction in the paw volume comparable to that produced by the standard drug indomethacin (64.88 % and 67.09 %) at 4 h respectively. In DPPH free radical scavenging test, IC50 value for ethanolic extract was found fairly significant 39.33 μg/ml when compared to the IC50 value of the reference standards ascorbic acid and Butylated Hydroxy Anisole (BHA) (3.16 and 5.81 μg/ml) respectively. The IC50 values of the extract and ascorbic acid were 99.06 and 39.35 μg/ml, respectively in nitric oxide scavenging assay. The maximum absorbance for reducing power assay was found to be 1.276 at 100 μg/ml when compared to 2.821 and 1.231 for standard ascorbic acid and BHA respectively. The IC50 value of the extract as percentage of Fe++ ion chelating ability was also found significant compared to that of EDTA. The total phenolic content was 211.82 mg/g of gallic acid equivalent. Acute toxicity test showed that the plant might be safe for pharmacological uses up to a dose level of 3,200 mg/kg of body weight in rats. Therefore, the obtained results suggest the acute anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the ethanolic extract of Brownlowia tersa leaves and thus provide the scientific basis for the traditional uses of this plant part as a remedy for pain and inflammations.