Over 2mn people in Africa affected due to flood in last rainy season: World Bank

Over 2 million people became victims due to floods in the last rainy seasons in Africa, said the director of operations of the World Bank (in Côte d'Ivoire, in Benin, Togo, and Guinea, Coralie Gevers), Coralie Gevers. She said this on the occasion of the ongoing Regional Conference Understanding Risks West and Central Africa.

The Regional Conference Understanding Risks West and Central Africa was launched by the Ivorian Minister of the City, Albert Amichia who represented the Minister of Sanitation and Sanitation, Anne Ouloto in Abidjan (November 20 and 22, 2019).

In recent weeks, there have been heavy rains in the region and just for this last rainy season, there were more than 2 million people in Africa, there were also many deaths," Coralie Gevers opined. With over 9,000 members, Understanding risk is a community of experts and practitioners from around the world working in the field of disaster risk management and prevention. This year, they reflect on the theme 'Human Capital and Innovation, Engine of Resilience'.

This forum is an exchange and sharing of solutions for West and Central Africa to better prevent disasters related to natural disasters that have caused significant damage in recent decades in these regions. It aims to disseminate good practices on the risks of natural disasters.

According to Coralie Gevers, it should allow the use of new technologies to accelerate the production process and transfer of solutions for disaster risk, and facilitate both the communication and interpretation of inventions on mapping.

Today, 31 percent of the West African population lives on the coastline, which contributes to '56 percent of the gross domestic product' of these countries. According to World Bank studies, 'every year Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Benin lose 3.8 billion dollars (2,253 billion CFA francs)'.

Côte d'Ivoire, the country most affected by the floods, lost nearly 2 billion dollars (1,185 billion FCFA) in 2017 as a result of floods. Several months ago, coastal erosion destroyed the Lahou-Kpanda cemetery (south), where the sea engulfed the graves.

Organized by the World Bank with the support of the European Union in partnership with the Ivorian government, this platform aims to understand the risks of natural disasters and climate change in order to better address issues and seek effective solutions to strengthen prevention and resilience.

Since 1970, there have been more than 2,500 natural disasters that have killed nearly one million people in Africa and damage estimated at about USD 32 billion, or eight years of Senegal's tax revenue, said Coralie Gevers. In this dynamic, a seminar on the state of Africa's cartography is taking place in Grand-Bassam (South-East of Abidjan) from 22 to 24 November 2019. This meeting brings together nearly 450 professionals passionate about geography of West and Central Africa.

Over 1,000 participants from more than 30 countries are taking part in this event, which will feature more than 300 innovators in mapping technologies that will give other states the opportunity to get to the heart of the latest technologies in the field open and participatory mapping of the Open Street Map community to detect and prevent risks.