Climate change, Kenya asks for 120 billion dollars to support Africa

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«At least» 120 billion dollars to support African economies against the impacts of climate change. This is the request made by Kenyan President William Ruto to the International Development Agency (International development association, Ida), the branch of the World Bank that provides grants and low-cost loans to the poorest countries. Ruto’s appeal came from the summit taking place on 29 April in Nairobi (Kenya) between the Ida leaders and 19 African heads of state and government, in view of the “replenishment” of funds established every three years by the institution.

The so-called “IDA20”, the 20th round of financing of the World Bank, has put a total of 93 billion dollars on the table in 2021 and will be completed in December 2025. According to what the Sun 24 Hours the new tranche «IDA21» will remain under discussion until December 2024, even if the intention is to guarantee an increase in step with the expectations of sub-Saharan governments. World Bank sources assured, on the eve of the summit, that the institution will seek a “robust” reinforcement capable of facing the “challenges” on the immediate horizon of Nairobi and the continent. World Bank President Ajay Banga had spoken in December 2023 of a “record” increase in the fund’s allocation, although it is not clear how much the increase in the figure could amount to.

The impacts of climate change on African economies

Ruto’s request is reflected in the news of the days of the summit, with Kenya submerged by the rainfall that is pouring over the country and has affected at least 200 thousand people. The collapse of a dam has caused a minimum death toll of 45 in western Kenya, in addition to the 100 already recorded by the floods that have dragged on since mid-March. Sub-Saharan Africa is trapped in the paradox of being, at the same time, the country with the least impact on global emissions and the most vulnerable to the consequences of the climate crisis. The African Climate Policy Centre, a center linked to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, estimates that the emergency could cost the continent losses and damages in the range between 290 billion dollars and 440 billion dollars depending on the rising temperatures.

Hence Ruto’s pressure for above-expected growth in the “commitments” guaranteed by the Ida, a share of the funding sought by sub-Saharan economies as a lever on the adaptation of industry and infrastructure to the climate emergency. The World Bank today supports a total of 75 countries, in over one case in two (39) in Africa, allocating 70% of its overall resources to the continent. Ruto himself underlined in Nairobi that three-quarters of the total IDA commitments for 2023 (26 billion dollars) have flowed into Africa and its economic systems, at the mercy of a crisis that overlaps with another form of “unsustainability »: the debt burden on the shoulders of the continent’s governments, exasperated by the upward cycle of Fed interest rates and its repercussions on loans contracted in American dollars. The region has already recorded three sovereign defaults since the start of the pandemic, with insolvencies suffered by Zambia in 2020, Ghana in 2022 and Ethiopia in 2023. The repercussions of the climate emergency may increase – further – the stress on the continent’s public finances .