The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, has called on African governments to establish dedicated, legally protected disaster risk management funds to strengthen the continent’s preparedness and response to increasingly devastating floods.
According to him, African countries must move away from the practice of waiting for disasters to occur before mobilising resources and instead invest in prevention, preparedness and long-term resilience.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC’s Focus on Africa, Dr. Agyemang said although many African countries have early warning systems capable of detecting impending disasters, governments often lack the financial resources and coordination required to act on such warnings.
“Most often on the continent, there are effective early warning systems for many of these flood disasters. But the truth of the matter is that governments are unable to respond effectively to those early warning signs because of the financing regime,” he said.
The insurance expert and risk management consultant, who has more than 20 years of experience in the field, proposed an integrated financing model for disaster management.
He suggested that such funds could be financed through a combination of government budgetary allocations, revenues from mineral resources, corporate taxes, levies and support from development partners.
“Instead of relying on central government budgets to fund disasters, governments can establish an integrated funding approach,” he said.
“That will make us build funds over the years and be more proactive towards resilience.”
Call for Ring-Fenced Disaster Funds
Dr. Agyemang, who is also Vice-Chairman of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, wants the proposed funds to be established through legislation and ring-fenced to prevent them from being diverted to other government priorities.
He argued that protecting lives and property must remain one of the fundamental responsibilities of every government.
“The basic responsibility of every government is to protect life and property,” he said.
“A government cannot say it has a priority more important than its basic responsibility of protecting life and property.”
His proposal comes in the wake of devastating floods recorded across parts of West Africa on June 29, including Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
In Ghana, at least 12 people were confirmed dead, while thousands of households were affected after torrential rains triggered flooding in several parts of the country.
The disasters have renewed concerns about the ability of African countries to cope with increasingly extreme weather events.
Climate Change and Rising Flood Risks
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that climate change is likely to increase the frequency and severity of flooding in parts of Africa.
Dr. Agyemang said the growing threat makes it urgent for governments to abandon what he described as a “reactionary” approach to disaster management.
“Why should African governments always be waiting for donations to support victims anytime disaster strikes on the continent?” he asked.
“That is reactionary. That is why we have to be intentional and in-depth about a more domestically sustainable funding regime to tackle disasters on the continent.”
Funding Alone Not Enough
Dr. Agyemang, who also lectures at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), stressed that funding alone would not solve Africa’s flood crisis.
He identified weak institutional coordination, political interference in urban planning and low insurance penetration as major obstacles to effective flood management.
He urged African countries to learn from jurisdictions that have developed mechanisms to spread and manage the financial risks associated with disasters.
He cited the United Kingdom’s flood reinsurance arrangements and the United States’ National Flood Insurance Program as examples of systems that could provide useful lessons for African countries.
“These are tried and tested disaster risk management systems that have survived over the decades that Africa is refusing to learn from,” he said.
He further called for flood prevention to be integrated into national economic planning rather than being treated solely as an emergency response issue.
“We have to begin to perceive risk prevention or flood prevention as an investment and economic activity rather than contingency,” he said.
Flooding Also a Public Health Threat
Dr. Agyemang also warned that the consequences of flooding extend beyond loss of lives, destruction of homes and damage to infrastructure.
The public health expert and lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said recurrent flooding can create conditions conducive to the spread of waterborne diseases and place additional pressure on already strained healthcare systems.
“Malaria is still rising, waterborne vectors such as cholera cases are rising, typhoid, diarrhoea are all public health impacts of floods,” he said.
He argued that regular contributions to a national disaster risk management fund would enable governments to build financial reserves that could be deployed for drainage projects, flood-control infrastructure, emergency response and other preventive measures.
However, he maintained that legislation would be critical to ensuring the sustainability of such funds.
“If it is not backed by legislation, member states or governments can take the funds and use them for any other thing,” he said.
Africa Must Act
Dr. Agyemang said his reviews had not identified an African country operating a fully functional disaster risk management fund of the type he is proposing, backed by specific legislation.
He acknowledged that further evidence could emerge but maintained that the continent needed to begin serious discussions on establishing sustainable financing mechanisms for disaster preparedness.
He called for sustained advocacy to persuade governments across Africa to adopt a more proactive approach to disaster management.
“African leaders will have to be up and doing because flood disasters have come to stay, whether climate change or not,” he said.
“We cannot neglect the safety of our people. We have to stop the reactionary attitude towards disasters.”
Dr. Agyemang said Africa already possesses much of the knowledge and technical capacity required to strengthen its disaster resilience, but political commitment and sustainable financing remain crucial.
“What we need is to come to the realisation that it cannot be the same over and over again and we expect a different result,” he said.
“Disaster has come to live with us and we have to find a sustainable way of managing it.”
