The government allocated an average of $1.24 million (Sh162 million) per capita to compensate households impacted by weather-related disasters in 2023, according to a new report.
The white paper from African Risk Capacity (ARC) details that $69.8 million (Sh9.12 billion) was earmarked for weather-related disaster expenditures last year. This amount, combined with contributions from international humanitarian partners, saw the Kenya Drought Response Plan 2023 raise $361.5 million (Sh47.2 billion), covering 80% of its target of $451.8 million (Sh59 billion) for relief efforts in health, education, food security, nutrition, shelter, and WASH.
The report, which examines 29 African countries, highlights significant variances in per capita spending on natural disasters in 2023. Libya led with $75 million (Sh9.8 billion), followed by Mauritius at $62 million (Sh8.1 billion) and Burundi at $24 million (Sh3.1 billion). Other nations spent less than $10 million (Sh1.3 billion) per capita.
On average, the reviewed states spent $93 million (Sh12.2 billion) on weather-related disasters. Total expenditures by these 29 countries amounted to $2.2 billion (Sh287 billion), with $1.3 billion (Sh170 billion) being actual spending and $0.9 billion (Sh117 billion) based on budgeted projections.
Natural disasters in these countries led to 17,507 fatalities and affected 10 million people, with Munich Re estimating total economic losses at $8 billion (Sh1.05 trillion) for Africa. Major events included Storm Daniel in Libya, costing $1.65 billion (Sh215 billion), and Tropical Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique, which incurred $1.53 billion (Sh200 billion) in damages.
The average expenditure per country was $93 million (Sh12.1 billion), with a median spending of about $40 million (Sh5.22 billion). The report underscores the need for effective disaster risk management strategies, highlighting that floods are more frequent but droughts impact more people.
Over the period from 2000 to 2023, 1,436 disaster events were recorded across the 29 countries, with floods comprising 66%, storms 15.4%, and droughts 11.7%. Despite the higher frequency of floods,
have had a more significant impact on populations, as illustrated by the 2014 drought events affecting over 25 million people compared to fewer flood events affecting less than 1 million.
