GI WACAF contributed to the World Bank led “West Africa Coastal Areas 2020 Assessment”

This study was launched in the framework of the West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA ResIP), which aims to federate the different initiatives working for the resilience of coastal zones in West Africa and providing a concerted, coherent, and harmonized response to the different countries. The creation of the Regional Observatory of the West African Coast (ORLOA) and the regular publication of the West African State of the Coast Report are among the tools developed to meet this objective. In 2020, the update of the West African State of the Coast Report was to be carried out, with the objective of having a document composed of chapters or sub-sections directly written by different partners – therefore the GI WACAF has been contacted.

This 2020 Assessment of West African Coastlines is the third version, covering 12 countries from Mauritania to Benin and including Sao Tome and Principe. The elaboration of the 2020 assessment took place in a difficult context, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which did not allow the organization of regional technical workshops, privileged moments of data and information collection on the evolution of hazards and stakes at the level of the coastal sectors of countries (validation of experts' statements). The regional unit has adapted to the situation by organizing several online meetings with each country (national offices and scientific committee) to discuss the evolution of each sector between 2016 and 2020. This work has been extensively verified, sometimes supplemented by the World Bank's network of in-country partners.

Click here to download the West Africa Coastal Areas Master Plan (SDLAO 2020). The GI WACAF team contributed to this report in section 1.2.3 as well as section 3.2.1 dedicated to the GI WACAF Project.