FG: $6.68bn Economic Losses Incurred in 2022 Floods  

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The federal government has estimated that a direct median economic loss of $6.68 billion was incurred by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the 36 states of the federation during the nationwide floods that ravaged the country last year.

The losses include damages to residential and non-residential buildings as well as damages to infrastructure, productive sectors and to farmland.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, revealed this in Abuja yesterday during the presentation of the Global Rapid (Post Disaster) Damage Estimation (GRADE) Assessment Report of the 2022 flood situation in Nigeria. The report said the loss incurred was based on currently reported statistics as of November 25, 2023 put in the range of $3.79 billion to $9.12 billion. 

Presenting the key findings of the report, Farouq said all the 36 states and the FCT were affected by the 2022 flood, considered the worst in the country.

“This analysis estimates that the total direct economic damages, based on currently reported statistics as of November 25th are in the range of US$3.79 billion to US$9.12 billion with the best (median) estimate at US$6.68 billion. This includes damages to residential and non-residential buildings (including building contents), as well as damages to infrastructure, productive sectors and to cropland,” Farouq said. 

It put the value of residential buildings destroyed across the country at $2.3 billion.

She also said between 4.4 million and 4.9 million people, which represented about two per cent of the country’s population, were impacted by the flood.

The report also estimated the significant damage to infrastructure including roads, irrigation and river infrastructure as well as WASH and electricity infrastructure to be around $1.23 billion.

The report noted that damage to agricultural crops, associated water infrastructure, fisheries and livestock was severe, noting that over 650,000 hectares of crops were destroyed. It estimated the loss to the agricultural sector at $1.8 billion. The worst affected states, according to the report, are Jigawa, Rivers, Taraba, Cross River, and Delta.

“On a general note, the GRADE assessment gives an overview of the nature of the flood disaster and its impact across Nigeria. It gave the sectoral and state-by-state effect that is critical for planning. It becomes a vital tool to understanding the effects of the flood on people, their coping capacity and who are the most vulnerable groups. It can also be used to identify the most urgent recovery needs and the best methods of the reconstruction of critical sector/infrastructure,” Farouq said.

She added that President Muhammadu Buhari has received an abridged copy of the GRADE report and has graciously approved emergency intervention and livelihood programme for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

She said they had carried out intervention based on assessments while NEMA had reached out to over 358,000 displayed persons with relief materials across the country.

She also stressed that the report had been submitted to the Presidential Committee on Flood Prevention headed by Jigawa State Governor, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, adding the ministry will liaise with the government on the modality of compensating the individuals who are displaced or who lost their farms.