Addressing climate change impacts on infrastructure in Africa

The NDF Board has approved a EUR 0.6 million grant to support the integration of a climate change dimension to the previously conducted Africa Infrastructure Diagnostics Study (AICD). This large study evolved under the guidance of a Steering Committee chaired by the African Union Commission (AUC) and was supported by a multi-donor group.

The NDF grant will together with support from the World Bank help integrate climate change aspects into the existing AICD study and database. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) suffers from a very weak infrastructural base which is considered to be the key factor why the region fails to realize its full potential for economic growth, international trade, and poverty reduction. The poor state of infrastructure in SSA is estimated to cut national economic growth by 2 percentage units every year, and to reduce business productivity by as much as 40 percent.

The previous work carried out by the Bank and others reveal the magnitude of the continent’s infrastructure challenges even without impacts of climate change. The study will assist African countries in reducing the vulnerability of regional infrastructure assets to climate change, and assist in planning, programming and financing future investments.

It is expected that the project will catalyse new directions on the policy dialogue on the programming and financing of infrastructure investment, with important implications for the development and deployment of climate finance instruments.