NEWS in brief
Around Africa
Cameroonians
Cameroonians plagued by urban flooding
By Sylvestre Tetchiada
The number of floods per year across Africa between 1961 and 2013.
Days of heavy rain during the week of 20 June 2015 left roads, buildings and
homes in Cameroon’s Douala city flooded.
Photo: Sylvestre Tetchiada/IRIN
DOUALA, 1 July 2015 (IRIN) - More than a week after
floods caused by heavy rain in Cameroon’s economic
capital, Douala, killed at least four people and destroyed
the homes and businesses of thousands of others,
displacing at least 2,000 people and directly affecting more
than 30,000, the city remains devastated.
Fallen electric poles are a grim reminder that much of
the city is still without power, upturned wrecked cars and
motorcycles lie abandoned in gutters, trash and other
debris litter the muddy streets.
The Ministry of Homes and Urban Development and the
Urban Community Delegation of Douala says “millions
of dollars” of damage have been caused.
“Our whole life is now shattered,” said 39-year old nurse
Arlette Mbappe.
“I have no home. It’s up to me to repair the damage of
what remains, but even finding food for my children has
become difficult. I would look for other accommodation,
but that has become very difficult to find.”
Tropical monsoon rains and subsequent flooding are
becoming more frequent in southwestern Cameroon,
as well as in other countries with shores on the Gulf of
Guinea. Each year the heavy rains seem to become more
deadly and do more damage.
“The floods, like those that are shaking our city, are
becoming more common in light of global warming, and
as other factors, such as urbanization and agricultural
practices, are taken into account,” said Philippe Edimo,
an urban planning engineer who works for the National
Meteorological Directorate in Douala.
Annual rainfall fluctuates from year to year, but in Douala,
for example, averaged 3,000mm of rain per year between
1906 and 1965. This has since increased to 3,200mm in
1989 and 3,800 mm in 2010, before falling to 3,080mm
in 2014, according to the National Department of
Meteorology (DMN).
Between 1998 and 2006, 4,200 people were affected
by flooding in Cameroon, according to data from the
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters’
Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). In 2007, more
than 10,000 people were affected in a single year. In 2008,
25,000 and in 2012, nearly 52,000.
Ethiopia
The African Water Facility Catalyzes the Development
of Waste Management Businesses to Improve
Sanitation Services in Arba Minch.
The African Water Facility (AWF) announced on July
1, 2015 that it is providing a €1.2-million grant to the
Government of Ethiopia to improve sanitation and faecal
waste management in Arba Minch. The project will benefit
over 21,000 people who will have access to improved toilet
facilities. It will also boost local agriculture through the
provision of new and affordable fertilizer.
Specifically, the project will focus on improving and
increasing the various public and private services provided
along the sanitation value chain, from waste collection,
to transportation and processing. This will be done by
helping small p ɥمє