Akinwunmi Adesina Reveals: Africa Bleeds $7-15 Billion Annually to Climate Change

Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), revealed at the Adaptation Finance Summit for Africa, a side event of the COP28 summit in Dubai, that Africa is experiencing an annual loss of $7 to $15 billion due to climate change. Despite contributing only 3% to global emissions, the continent bears a disproportionate impact, with nine out of the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries worldwide located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Adesina expressed concern about the increasing financial toll, projecting the annual losses to surge to $50 billion by 2050. Africa currently receives a mere 4.5% of global climate finance, and the AfDB’s climate adaptation fund of $10 billion falls significantly short of the necessary resources, which should ideally exceed ten times that amount.

Highlighting the bank’s commitment to addressing climate change, Dr. Adesina mentioned that 63% of the AfDB’s total climate finance is now dedicated to climate adaptation. Additionally, he discussed the launch of the African Adaptation Acceleration Program, aiming to mobilize $25 billion for climate adaptation in the least developed countries.

The World Meteorological Organization’s report underscores the severe consequences of climate change in Africa, contributing to food insecurity, conflicts, displacement, migration, and economic and ecosystem decline. In 2022, over 110 million people on the continent were directly affected by weather-related hazards, resulting in economic damages surpassing US$8.5 billion and 5,000 fatalities reported in the Emergency Event Database, with drought and flooding accounting for the majority.

Agriculture, a crucial sector for Africa, faces substantial challenges due to climate change. The continent’s food import bill is projected to increase by $110 billion by 2025. In Nigeria, the repercussions of climate change extend to exacerbating banditry and insecurity in the northwest, where conflicts arise between cattle herders and farmers over land and water resources.

In the face of these escalating challenges, the AfDB’s initiatives, such as the increased focus on climate adaptation and the African Adaptation Acceleration Program, signal a proactive approach to address the urgent climate-related issues impacting the African continent. However, the wide gap in required financial resources calls for collaborative efforts on a global scale to mitigate the far-reaching effects of climate change on Africa’s communities and ecosystems.