The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in Niamey, Niger Republic is revving up actions on African early warning systems and multi-hazard advisory on weather/climate related disasters.
The Chairperson of ACMAD Board of Governors, Professor Mansur Bako Matazu stated this at the Climate Policy Dialogue and Inauguration Ceremony of the Continental Multi-Hazard Advisory Centre, in Niger Republic.
Prof. Matazu who is also the Director-General, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) also said “the centre will provide a few days, weeks, and months lead-time (i.e., ahead) advisories and watches on heavy rains and floods, high temperatures and heat waves, droughts, cyclones, and significant storms to the AUC Situation Room to guide disaster risk coordination and management actions.”
“We welcome this landmark event as a step forward in providing advisories that will help in reducing agriculture losses due to droughts, exposure of population and livelihoods to floods, climate related diseases like meningitis and malaria through surveillance and control; and pre-position supplies for more efficient post disaster humanitarian interventions.”
He said look forward to this centre for advisories and support for warnings at national level as well as well-informed early action and implementation to reduce impacts of disasters.
He noted this is critical because Africa finds it difficult to respond adequately to weather and climate induced disasters such as floods, drought, desertification, heat waves, squally winds, and tropical cyclones.
Now more than ever, GDP, inflation, interest rates, diseases, epidemics, and pandemics are exacerbated or even driven by hydrometeorological events.
According to Prof. Matazu to promote and support early actions against vagaries of weather and changing climate, providing hydrometeorological predictions and advisories with sufficient lead times ahead of these events is of strategic importance to mitigating the arising threats, build climate resilience and ensure sustainable development.
According to him, to achieve the foregoing, and considering the urgent necessity to address climate threats, crisis, emergencies and disasters on the continent, the African Union Commission, the Regional Economic Communities, and Countries through ACMAD (a continental centre), Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) and National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) have concluded steps to build a Support System
