The types of natural hazards affecting countries vary across the region.
MAP 2.1: Natural Hazards Affecting the Most People across Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2000–19
Re
d a
The Gambia Guinea-Bissau
Se
Mauritania
Cabo Verde
Mali
Senegal
Burkina Faso Benin Côte Ghana Sierra Leone d’Ivoire Liberia Togo Guinea
Niger
Sudan
Chad Nigeria
STORM FLOOD DROUGHT NO DATA
Gabon Rep. of Congo
Somalia
Rwanda Dem. Rep. of Burundi Congo Tanzania
Seychelles Comoros
Angola
AT L A N T I C
Zimbabwe Namibia
n
Uganda Kenya
Zambia
OCEAN
e f Ad Gulf o
Ethiopia
South Sudan
Central African Republic Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea São Tomé and Príncipe
Eritrea
Malawi Mozambique
I N D IA N OCEAN
Madagascar
Mauritius
Botswana Eswatini South Africa
Lesotho
IBRD 46160 CRED | SEPTEMBER Source: 2019.2021
This map was produced by the Cartography Unit of the World Bank Group. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
season and, thus, are mainly affected by storms.36 Of the 1,053 weather-related hazards that occurred in the region from 2000 to 2019, about two-thirds were floods, followed by storms (15 percent) and droughts (12 percent). Natural disasters occur across all the countries in the region, but their frequency and intensity vary widely across geographical locations. For instance, the three countries with the highest numbers of disasters during 2000–19 are Kenya (60), South Africa (56), and Mozambique (55)—with floods and storms representing more than three-quarters of these events over the past two decades. In terms of the disaster-induced death toll since 2000, Somalia had the greatest number of casualties (20,739) as a result of the 2010 drought. It is followed by Mozambique (2,291), with more than a quarter of these fatalities attributed to Cyclone Idai.37
36 This group includes small island countries such as the Comoros, Mauritius, and the Seychelles (CRED 2019). 37 See CRED (2019).
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