Africa's weather forecasting capabilities are significantly underdeveloped, leaving the continent vulnerable to climate-related disasters. The lack of reliable weather data, compounded by insufficient funding, makes it harder to manage the increasing frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change. Chad, for instance, struggles with a largely non-functional meteorological system, with 80% of its weather stations broken or out of service. The situation in Chad reflects broader challenges across Africa, where many countries lack the necessary infrastructure to monitor weather patterns accurately.
At the recent COP29 climate talks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent action to address these data and funding deficiencies, emphasizing the importance of establishing early warning systems to protect communities from extreme weather events. Despite international initiatives like the Systematic Observations Financing Facility (SOFF), which aims to improve Africa's weather observation network, only limited progress has been made due to financial constraints and a lack of trained personnel.
In Chad, severe flooding has affected millions, with devastating consequences for agriculture and livelihoods. Inadequate weather forecasting has left communities unprepared for the impact of these floods. The lack of resources at Chad’s meteorological agency has led to ineffective disaster management, leaving the country reliant on outdated and unreliable data. The situation is part of a wider trend across Africa, where weather observation networks remain underfunded, jeopardizing efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations.
As global climate disasters become more frequent, the need for an improved and fully functional weather observation system in Africa has never been more urgent. The UN is pushing for long-term solutions, but the funding gap remains a significant barrier to progress.
