AFRI-RES is an Africa-based networked centre of technical competence and excellence with the overall objective to strengthen the capacity of African institutions (including national governments, river basin organizations, Regional Economic Communities, power pools, among others) as well as the private sector (project developers and financiers) to plan, design, and implement infrastructure investments that are resilient to climate variability and change in selected sectors

The reports of the joint World Bank and ECA studies on Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Africa’s Infrastructure^[1] (ECRAI) found that failure to integrate climate change in the planning and design of power and water infrastructure could entail, in the driest climate scenarios, losses of hydropower revenues anywhere between 5 and 60 percent (depending on the basin), and increases in consumer expenditure for energy up to 3 times the corresponding baseline values. In the wettest climate scenarios, business-as-usual infrastructure development could lead to foregone revenues in the range of 15 to 130 percent of the baseline.  In irrigation, the largest loss in revenue is in the 10 to 20 percent range for most basins. In wet scenarios, the largest foregone gains are in the range of 1 to 4 percent, with the exception of the Volta basin, where they are estimated to be one order of magnitude higher (ten times the baseline level). In the transport sector, climate change is likely to lead to a shortening of roads rehabilitation life-cycle, which may entail steep increases in maintenance and periodic rehabilitation costs. In the worst climate scenarios, stress imposed on the roads by precipitation can lead to rehabilitation costs 10 times higher (compared to historical climate conditions); stress imposed by flooding can lead to a 17 times increase. It is therefore clear that the trillions of dollars needed to close Africa’s huge infrastructure gap are at risk from climate change and variability and need safeguarding.

In this regard the Economic Commission for Africa (through its African Climate Policy Center - ACPC), the African Union Commission, the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have teamed up and launched the “Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility – AFRI-RES”. The Facility is now operational with initial seed funding from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF).  

AFRI-RES Framework

The AFRI-RES framework and value proposition is as shown below.

What AFRI-RES will do

A central function of AFRI-RES will be to facilitate interaction between policy makers, financiers, project developers, and scientific and engineering experts in order to develop and mainstream new practices that deliver climate resilient infrastructure in Africa. The scope of the work of the facility would thus span different sectors and different stages of the planning and project development process.

In supporting African institutions and the private sector to strengthen their capacity to plan, design, and implement infrastructure investments that are resilient to climate variability and change in selected sectors, AFRI-RES will deliver on the following:

• Component 1: Project-level technical assistance
• Component 2: Outreach, dissemination and training
• Component 3: Guidelines, standards and good practice notes for climate resilient infrastructure investment
• Component 4: Climate knowledge and data portal

Expected benefits of AFRI-RES

There are four main reasons why AFRI-RES could have transformational impacts on Africa’s resilience to climate change, and is complementary to other related initiatives underway in the region.

• Closing the gap between climate science and project design
• Cost-effectiveness in developing climate resilience readiness and supporting project preparation
• Emergence of technical standards in project design for adaptation

For further information, see the Afri-Res brochure.