Africafé : Advancing Natural Disaster Management Strategies in Africa

March 21, 2024

The profound impacts of natural disasters on lives, economies, and communities underscore the need for comprehensive understanding and proactive measures. These disasters disrupt livelihoods, displace populations, and strain resources, exacerbating vulnerabilities in both urban and rural areas. The economic toll is significant, hindering development efforts and causing long-term setbacks due to infrastructural damage. Drawing lessons from other countries like Brazil, Africa recognizes the imperative of building resilience in communities to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. Implementing measures such as early warning systems, robust infrastructure, and community-based disaster preparedness initiatives can bolster resilience and minimize casualties. Moreover, investing in education and capacity-building programs further empowers communities to respond effectively to crises. By learning from Brazil's experiences, African nations are poised to strengthen their natural disaster management strategies and enhance their ability to withstand and recover from such adversities.

Speakers
Eduardo Amaral Haddad
Senior Fellow
Eduardo A. Haddad is Full Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he directs the Regional and Urban Economics Lab (NEREUS). He is additionally a Affiliate Professor at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI University. He also holds a position as Affiliate Research Professor at the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory – REAL – at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco. Prof. Haddad has published widely in professional journals on regional and interregional input-output analysis, computable general equilibrium modeling, and various aspects of regional economic development in developing countries; he ...
Ahmed Ouhnini
Economist, Policy Center for the New South
Ahmed Ouhnini is an Economist at the Policy Center for the New South. His research area covers agricultural economics, human and social development. Previously, he has worked as a researcher at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and has also a record of working in consulting services in Morocco. Ahmed holds an engineering Diploma in Agriculture and Rural Development from the National School of Agriculture of Meknes and a Master’s Degree in Law, Economics and Management from the Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne Institute of Development. ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • September 1, 2022
    Dans cet épisode Lassina Diarra et Abdelhak Bassou échangent sur le caractère religieux des violences en Afrique de l'ouest. Ils y discutent des implications politiques et des fondements de ces violences ainsi que des causes de leurs résurgence. ...
  • Authors
    August 30, 2022
    Rwanda is famous for its remarkable socio-economic performance after the ravages of the Genocide against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, Rwanda has followed a state-led development model with stunning results. Despite these substantial accomplishments, Rwanda is still a low-income country with extensive poverty. Its agriculture is still of low productivity and highly vulnerable to climate change. Structural transformation has we ...
  • Authors
    August 29, 2022
    L’Afrique représente environ 3 % du produit intérieur brut mondial. Il n’est donc pas surprenant que le poids du continent dans le secteur de l’énergie soit très faible, compte tenu des liens très étroits entre économie et énergie. Selon la dernière édition de la BP Statistical Review of World Energy, publiée en juin 2022 et portant sur l’année 2021, la part de l’Afrique dans la consommation mondiale d’énergie primaire était de 3,4 % l’an dernier (a) (b). Le continent, qui représent ...
  • Authors
    August 26, 2022
    Si l’Afrique est de nos jours convoitée par de nombreux acteurs (Turquie, Chine, Russie, etc..), le Japon y renforce et diversifie sa présence. Deuxième contributeur de la Banque africaine de développement (BAD), le pays du « soleil levant » s’implante en Afrique centrale, du Nord et de l’Est, avec un focus sur le domaine technique avec des objectifs très précis (nouvelles technologies, sécurité alimentaire, infrastructures). C’est cependant un partenaire qui privilégie la discrétio ...
  • August 26, 2022
    In a conversation with Helmut Sorge, Columnist at the Policy Center for the New South, the Founder of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation, and Atlantic Dial ...
  • August 19, 2022
    Despite some exceptions such as Rwanda, Morocco and Tunisia to some extent, about 80% of Africa still has not learnt that being dependant on others is putting your population at risk, acc ...
  • Authors
    August 18, 2022
    On the evening of August 15, the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared William Ruto, the vice-president of the outgoing government, as winner of the presidential race. The announcement was not made in a situation of calm, as political unrest and turbulence erupted a few moments before Wafula Chebukati, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, announced the winner’s name. For the first time since it was established by the Constitution in 2011, the me ...
  • Authors
    August 17, 2022
    In May 2021, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report Net Zero by 2050 stated that there is no need for new investments in oil and gas fields in their net zero pathway[1]. The message was clear: place your next investments in clean energy sources and energy efficiency. However, the IEA’s Africa Energy Outlook 2022 stated that Africa’s industrialisation relies in expanding the use of natural gas[2]. Even the IEA executive director Fatih Birol said, “if we make a list of the top ...
  • Authors
    August 15, 2022
    Kenyans headed to the polls on August 9 to elect their fifth president, along with county governors, members of the Senate, and National Assembly representatives. The elections took place in a context of growing challenges of rising commodity prices, and the recent developments over the maritime dispute in which the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Somalia. The presidential race between William Ruto—former deputy minister in the past government—and Raila Odinga, the ...