FACTSHEET WEST AFRICA

West Africa has experienced warming of 1–3°C since the mid-1970s, leading to increased heatwaves, variable rainfall, and widespread losses in GDP and food productivity. Future projections indicate severe risks, including a potential 30% decline in marine fisheries catch and significant population exposure to sea level rise, particularly in coastal cities like Lagos and Abidjan. Adaptation requires transformative, ecosystem-based approaches and a significant increase in climate finance, as current funding is insufficient and heavily skewed toward non-African institutions.

• West Africa has experienced significant warming and weather extremes since the mid-1970s, with average annual and seasonal surface temperatures increasing by 1–3°C, particularly in the Sahara and Sahel. The region has seen an increase in the frequency of very hot days (over 35°C) by 1–9 days per decade and tropical nights by 4–13 nights per decade between 1961–2014.
• Climate change has caused substantial economic losses in West Africa, with GDP per capita estimated to be 13.6% lower between 1991 and 2010 than it would have been without human-induced climate change. Specific impacts include flood-induced damages of US$ 850 million from rainfall and US$ 555 million from riverine floods in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo in 2017, and US$ 200 million in losses from 2011 floods in Lagos, Nigeria.
• Food systems are under severe pressure, with climate change slowing agricultural productivity growth in Africa by 34% since the 1960s. Future risks include a projected decline in sorghum and maize yields (9% for maize) at 1.5°C warming. Marine fisheries catch potential is projected to decline by more than 30% at 2°C warming, potentially leaving millions of people in West Africa vulnerable to iron, vitamin A, and omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies.
• Coastal urban areas in West Africa face extreme risks from sea level rise, with 47 million people projected to be exposed by 2030, increasing to 111–122 million by 2060. Expected aggregate damages by 2050 are projected at US$ 3.7 to 9.4 billion for Lagos and US$ 14.3 to 49.6 billion for Abidjan.
• Climate-related internal migration is a major trend, with West Africa identified as a hotspot; projected internal migrants could reach over 50 million by 2050 under a 2.5°C warming scenario. While often a response to water stress and reduced crop productivity, migration can serve as an effective adaptation strategy for farmers to earn income and mitigate productivity fluctuations.
• Adaptation efforts are severely hindered by a lack of finance and data. Between 1990 and 2019, Africa received only 3.8% of global climate-related research funding, with 78% of that funding going to EU and North American institutions rather than African ones. Current annual adaptation finance flows are billions of dollars below the lowest cost estimates for near-term climate change.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2022). FACTSHEET WEST AFRICA. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa_web.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. FACTSHEET WEST AFRICA. 2022. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=FACTSHEET WEST AFRICA |date=2022 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa_web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2022factsheet, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{FACTSHEET WEST AFRICA}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2022}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }