World Bank Approves $246 Million to Strengthen Coastal Resilience in West Africa

WASHINGTON — Populations at immediate risk from coastal erosion, flooding and pollution, and people depending on agroindustry and tourism along the coastlines in The Gambia, Ghana, and Guinea-Bissau will benefit from the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA ResIP 2), approved today for a total amount of $246 million in International Development Association (IDA)* financing, including a $5 million PROBLUE grant.

This second WACA project includes a grant to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) to coordinate regional organizations in improving regional integration, managing environmental flows, and achieving economies of scale in managing shared coastal resources needed for climate resilience. The World Bank financing has leveraged private sector finance for blue carbon credit announced at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27).

The blue economy is essential. About 42% of West Africa’s GDP is generated in coastal areas, where almost one-third of the population resides. The second WACA project is an expansion of the WACA Program that already included Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, and Togo. In The Gambia, Ghana, and Guinea-Bissau, the new project will support physical coastal protection using a combination of nature-based solutions and grey infrastructure to protect economic and livelihood assets from coastal erosion and flooding and includes social investments at community level to increase climate-resilient at local level.

Development challenges in coastal West Africa are complex and multisectoral in nature, and no country alone can fix them. That is why the WACA Program by design includes regional integration and solutions.

“There is no doubt that physical cross-border solutions are required to stabilize the coastline from coastal erosion as we have seen between Togo and Benin already. This require common policy, approaches and collaboration, and the WAEMU is keen to bring this to scale in WACA ResIP 2,” says Kako Nubukpo, WAEMU Commissioner for Food Security, Resources and Environment.

Apart from the WAEMU, other key institutions participating in the WACA Program include: the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Secretariat of the Abidjan Convention (ABC), the Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM), the Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas in West Africa (RAMPAO), the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), and the Africa regional Center of Excellence for Coastal Resilience (ACECoR) at University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

“Solutions are bound to be regional to achieve sustainable results, and we see a natural complementarity in the mandates of these institutions each of which focus on specific aspects, including economic, environmental, financial, policy, human resources, and research capacity development,” says Boutheina Guermazi, World Bank Director for Regional Integration for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Northern Africa. “We are pleased to see an increasing cooperation and dialogue around the WACA Program. By working together with the countries, these institutions bring an adequate response and economies of scale at the regional level. Bringing in an academia partner – the ACECoR – is important to train the next generation of highly qualified human resources to achieve sustainable results.”

The WACA Program was launched in 2018, in response to countries’ request for solutions and finance to help protect and restore the ecological, social, and economic assets of West Africa’s coastal areas by addressing coastal erosion, flooding, and pollution. It helps participating countries to stabilize the coastline, prevent loss of critical infrastructure like coastal roads for transport, and to support healthy and productive coastal waters needed for food security and natural capital.

With the second WACA project approved, the total World Bank financing to the WACA Program amounts to $492 million (including grants of $20 million from the Global Environment Facility and $5 million from PROBLUE), covering engagements in nine countries, including: Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, and Togo, and the WAEMU and associated regional institutions.

*The International Development Association (IDA) is the World Bank’s fund for the poorest. Established in 1960, it provides grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. IDA resources help effect positive change in the lives of the 1.6 billion people living in the countries that are eligible for its assistance. Since its inception, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments are constantly on the rise and have averaged $21 billion over the past three years, with about 61% going to Africa.