A hundred and ten million people in Africa were directly affected by weather, climate and water-related hazards in 2022, causing more than $8.5 billion in economic damages, a new report showed.

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The State of the Climate in Africa 2022 report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was produced jointly with the African Union Commission, and the Africa Climate Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

It was released on Monday, September 4, 2023, during the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Kenya.

It showed that the climate hazards are a result of the rate of temperature increase in Africa which has accelerated in recent decades.

The average rate of warming in Africa was +0.3 °C/decade during the 1991–2022 period, compared to +0.2 °C/decade between 1961 and 1990, which is slightly above the global average, the report shows.

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There were a reported 5, 000 fatalities, of which 48 per cent were associated with drought and 43 per cent were associated with flooding, according to the Emergency Event Database.

"But the true toll is likely to be much higher because of under-reporting,” reads part of the report.

It says that the hazards are becoming more severe in Africa yet it is responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions.

"Africa is responsible for less than 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But it is the continent that is the least able to cope with the negative impacts of climate change. Heatwaves, heavy rains, floods, tropical cyclones, and prolonged droughts are having devastating impacts on communities and economies, with increasing numbers of people at risk,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof Petteri Taalas.

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This is harming food security, ecosystems, and economies, fuelling displacement, and migration, and worsening the threat of conflict over dwindling resources, yet financing for climate adaptation is only a drop in the ocean of what is needed, the report raised an alarm.

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"There are big gaps in weather observations in Africa and early warning services are woefully adequate. We are determined to close those gaps and ensure that life-saving early warnings reach everyone,” Taalas said.

The Early Warnings for All in Africa Action Plan was also launched at the Africa Climate Summit.

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment at the African Union Commission, said given Africa’s high exposure, fragility, and low adaptive capacity, the effects of climate change are expected to be felt more severely.

"People’s health, peace, prosperity, infrastructure, and other economic activities across many sectors in Africa are exposed to significant risks associated with climate change,” she noted.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Africa’s livelihoods and national economies – supporting more than 55 per cent of the labour force.

But its agricultural productivity growth has declined by 34 per cent since 1961 due to climate change. This decline is the highest compared to what other regions of the world have experienced.

Consecutive failures of rainfall seasons in East Africa

The report says that five consecutive failures of rainfall seasons have wreaked havoc over large parts of East Africa and contributed to reduced agricultural productivity, food insecurity, and high food prices.

Flooding in West and Southern Africa in 2022 swept away crop areas and led to food insecurity in those regions.

As a result, projected annual food imports by African countries are expected to increase by about a factor of three, from $35 billion to $110 billion by 2025.

The loss and damage costs in Africa due to climate change are projected to range between $290 billion and $440 billion, depending on the degree of warming, according to the UNECA’s African Climate Policy Centre.

Climate change and the diminishing natural resource base could fuel conflicts for scarce productive land, water, and pastures, where farmer-herder violence has increased over the past 10 years due to growing land pressure.

"Investing in early warnings and early actions is a priority for saving lives, promoting economic development, valuing development gains and livelihoods, protecting the environment, and reducing the cost of disaster responses,” the report recommends.

As the actions require funding, financing African countries’ climate actions would require an estimated total of US$ 2.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030.

Rwanda working on early warning system

As Rwanda was also affected by weather, climate, and water-related hazards in 2022 and 2023 as well as the previous years, the Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) said the government is working on improving the early warning system.

In 2022, 205 deaths were recorded, along with 401 injuries and damage to 4,156 houses. Moreover, 1,917 hectares of crops were ruined, and 201 livestock perished.

At least 323 classrooms, 72 road sections, 59 bridges, and 80 transmission lines were damaged in 2022.

"We are trying to build and upgrade early warning systems and the journey continues. It requires studies, updated early warning technology, and required infrastructure. Every type of hazard such as floods, landslides, and drought among others should have its own early warning system,” said the Permanent Secretary of MINEMA, Philippe Habinshuti.

He said the technology and infrastructure needed to have accurate predictions require more investments.

"When it comes to early warning dissemination, it requires strong collaboration among all institutions including telecommunication companies and others. The design of early warning was done and we are striving to implement it as we get more financial capacity,” he said.

He said, for instance, flood sensors have been installed on some rivers to ensure early warning in case of floods.

The flood sensors need to provide regular updates to people regarding water levels, quantity, depth, and speed of stormwater in rivers and drainages, with updates occurring every 5 to 15 minutes.

He added that there are ongoing projects to strengthen the early warning system.

"We have one project in volcano regions which are most affected by floods and areas affected by landslides in the western region,” he said.

Rwanda is among the East African countries that will benefit from $7 million in funding to finance a regional initiative to boost hydro-meteorological and early warning service.