Unfolding Africa’s Climate Crisis, The Deepening imprints on Environment and Development

Africa is on fire, under water, and running dry all at once. The fingerprints of climate change.

From draught stricken lands and flooded homes to lives taken before their time, the signs are everywhere. Climate change is not coming, it's already here. But here’s the deeper truth;

Contributing less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Africa is now grappling with the climate change crisis with the devastating stories of Africa’s climate change unfolding in real time. With floods washing away entire villages, Children are growing up as orphans in displacement camps, lights cut out, water becoming scarce, droughts killing livestock, crops failing, schools closing, and lives being lost every single day.

This is more than just a climate issue, This is a story of climate injustice, survival, and the courage to rise again through climate action. In this article, we walk through what happens when the most fragile part of life is hit, a matter of lives on the line and justice the world cannot ignore.

Starting from Rwanda, Deadly Floods in the Hills

In May 2023, heavy rains triggered catastrophic floods and landslides in western and northern Rwanda particularly in Rubavu, Rutsiro, Nyabihu, and Ngororero districts.

Over 130 people were killed, thousands displaced, and entire communities swept away. The rains overwhelmed rivers and destabilized steep slopes, destroying over 5,000 homes, dozens of roads, and schools. This was one of Rwanda’s worst flood disasters and a clear sign of a warming climate intensifying East Africa’s rainy seasons.

In Kenya the Country Caught Between Drought and Floods

From 2023 to mid-2024, Kenya endured one of its most extreme weather cycles ever. After years of drought left millions food insecure and water scarcity, El Niño rains in late 2023 triggered destructive floods across 38 counties, especially in Turkana, Marsabit, and parts of the Rift Valley. More than 267 deaths, over 281,000 displaced, and nearly 380,000 homes damaged. Not forgetting that this is not the full picture of what took place in the whole of May 2024 but the smallest snippet of it (9th may 2024). 

With water resources damaged, hydro-electric dams overflooded, and while communities struggled to recover from hunger and livestock loss; the floods destroyed roads, schools, and clinics  reversing development gains and increasing disease outbreaks.

Tanzania in Drought, Wildlife Conflict & Urban Floods

In  2024, Tanzania was hit by one of the most severe droughts in a decade, impacting dryland areas like Tarangire and Serengeti. As rivers dried up and grasslands vanished, wild animals entered villages in search of food and water creating conflict with already struggling communities.

In urban areas like Dar es Salaam, flash floods kept a hold on transport and sanitation systems. Crop losses and water stress worsened poverty in rural areas, while city floods endangered public health and food supply chains.

As of Somalia it went from Drought to Devastation

Somalia is the epicenter of the climate crisis in the Horn of Africa. Led by five consecutive failed rainy seasons Between 2021 and 2023, the country suffered five failed rainy seasons, the worst drought in over 40 years. Livestock, the backbone of rural life, died by the millions. Rivers ran dry. Wells collapsed. By 2022 the drought caused more than 43,000 deaths, half of them being children below 5 years. 1.3 million people displaced and 8 million people were in need of urgent humanitarian aid.

Then came the floods In 2023, rains finally returned but too fast, too hard. Flash floods displaced over 700,000 people, damaging homes and causing cholera outbreaks. From one extreme to another, Somali families and the economy faced disaster either way.

For Ethiopia the Country Ran Under Climate Siege

Ethiopia’s climate shocks have been relentless. From 2021 through 2024, droughts crippled the Afar, and Oromia regions, killing over 7 million livestock and pushing millions into food insecurity. As of early 2024, floods caused by unseasonal rains affected over 590,000 people causing deaths, displacement, livestock loss, agriculture was extremely impacted damaging tens of thousands of hectares of farmland.

Water scarcity, disease outbreaks, and lost harvests have deepened Ethiopia’s humanitarian crisis. Ethiopia’s climate shocks have been relentless.

Malawi Cyclone Freddy’s devastation

In March 2023 Malawi was devastated by Cyclone Freddy, one of the longest and strongest storms ever recorded worldwide. The cyclone dumped six months' worth of rain in six days, triggering floods and mudslides that killed over 1,200 people and displaced more than 659,000

Over 2.2 million people affected 1000 people killed, 659000 people displaced, roads damaged, schools destroyed, homes lost, infrastructures including roads, health facilities  damaged, farmlands washed away and electricity cut in some regions. Southern Malawi’s roads, schools, and health clinics were damaged. In the aftermath, cholera surged, and food insecurity soared as crops were washed away. All this did not fail to terribly affect the soil structure causing deforestation for informal settlements and horrible landslide

In December 2024 Malawi and Mozambique were again hit by Tropical Cyclone Chido where hundreds of thousands of people were affected, houses, roads, public facilities, crops and more damaged.

Nigeria suffering from Floods, Drought, and Food Collapse

Nigeria has faced a climate double blow.

In 2023 and 2024 Nigeria has faced a climate double blow, massive floods submerged farmlands and killed 320 people, displacing over 730,000 and damaging 120,000 homes. Meanwhile, northern states like Sokoto and Katsina suffered from intense drought and heatwaves, crippling harvests of maize, millet, and sorghum.

Today, over 31 million Nigerians face hunger and many for most farmers climate change is now one of the biggest threats to food production and national stability. The “weather whiplash” of alternating floods and droughts has destabilized one of Africa’s most populous and promising nations.

South Sudan as if the nation was drowning

In November 2024, flooding submerged entire villages over 379,000 people were displaced in 22 counties including Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity states. 30 million livestock, the lifeline of rural families, were lost.

Traditional ways of life are vanishing under water, and humanitarian needs are growing faster than aid can reach!

Invest in Understanding, Protecting, and Partnering

When reading this article you must have thought that those numbers are huge but to be truthful it's not even one tenth of the lives lost and economic development damages that are affected by climate change every year. If we want to truly respond to this crisis, we must do more than react to floods or deliver emergency aid. We must invest in prevention, eco-friendly technologies, environmental awareness, sustainable ideas generation and partnerships.

We need to invest in climate education so people understand what’s happening and how they can adapt. 

“To protect the hands that sustain our livelihoods is no longer a choice but a must”

And here comes the extremely needed role of working towards global SDGs and NDCs because lives are lost, food insecurity rises, electricity facilities are destroyed, infrastructures damaged, disease run rampant and when it comes to prices that’s another story for another day!!

We need every kind of partnership possible between governments, communities, education and research institutions, private sectors, and civil societies. Because climate justice isn't charity it's a smart, shared survival for now.

One thing is that the Future We Build Depends on our actions both small and big!

Africa is rising. Its people are building, innovating, and dreaming. Cities are expanding, businesses are growing, and opportunities are emerging in all sectors be it energy, technology, agriculture, construction, education, fishery, transport and all other kinds of sectors.

But the climate is shifting and what we build won’t last if we ignore what sustains it.

We just have to remember that every one is a citizen, a learner, a leader, a provider, a consumer and a partner; but how are you contributing? Is it positively, negatively or no idea at all? 

• As leaders, Invest in infrastructures but also invest in ecosystems, education, and early warning systems.

• Businesses, grow your markets but again let sustainability guide your success.

• Citizens, our daily choices matter from how you travel to what you consume. Climate care begins with everyone.

• When it comes to governments and global partners, Climate finance is not a gift it is a global responsibility. Delivering it with purpose, saves more than we can count.

We need climate actions, education, protection, partnership, and purpose.

The unfolding climate crisis and its growing imprint on China demand urgent, coordinated leadership. I invite policymakers, industry leaders, and climate advocates to engage in a collaborative dialogue to develop innovative, actionable solutions. Together, we can translate insight into impact. Reach out to join the conversation and be part of shaping a resilient future for China and beyond or for a PDF doc.

Let this be the moment we choose not just to build, but to build wisely, build together, and build a future that lasts.