58% of businesses in Africa profoundly affected by climate change: Study

CAIRO - 7 November 2022: Climate change has profoundly affected businesses in African nations in a negative way, according to the UK Emerging Economies International Investment Climate Report.

 

The report, which included top executives working for companies and investment funds in Africa, offered some stark insights into how companies are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

 

It also found that 58 percent of companies in Africa have experienced events such as severe floods, storms or droughts in the past year, compared to only 48% of respondents in the previous year's survey.

 

A study by the Egyptian Center for Thought and Studies revealed that this year also witnessed severe drought waves on both sides of the African continent; For example, the persistent drought in Somalia illustrates the links between climate change and the humanitarian crisis, while torrential rains in South Africa and devastating floods in Sudan, Nigeria and South Africa have directly led to the loss of human, animal and plant life, exposing millions of people in Africa to insecurity.

 

So it is clear that African countries need urgent climate action. They recorded 131 extreme weather disasters related to climate change in Africa in 2020 and 2021, including 99 floods, 16 storms, 14 droughts and 2 wildfires.

 

The study continued saying that for example, 39% of businesses in Africa were affected by floods, while 23% were affected by drought, which caused losses to crops and goods. However, the most impactful in terms of concerns about the physical risks to African companies was drought and water stress that came to the fore.