Why African cities have failed to adapt to climate change

 A general view of the destruction at Umdloti beach North of Durban, South Africa, Thursday, April 14, 2022. Declaring a national state of disaster, South Africa has allocated $67 million to help those hit by floods that have killed at least 443 people in the eastern city of Durban and the surrounding KwaZulu-Natal province.[AFP]

When record-breaking rains swept through the coastal city of Durban in South Africa in April 2022, the resulting floods destroyed roads, bridges and homes. Durban’s low-lying, poor neighbourhoods were hardest hit, with residents losing their homes and their lives.

The scene would have felt familiar to residents of many of Africa’s other fast-growing cities. Some, including Lagos, Cairo, Cape Town and Durban, have already faced the need to adapt to a changing climate and its intensifying hazards such as floods, droughts or intense heat.