The West African Coastal Areas (WACA) Resilience Investment Project, partly funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has been approved by the Board of the World Bank Group.It will help build coastal communities in Republic of Benin, Cote dIvoire, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal and Togo through a $210 million financing package.The project will protect coastal communities against erosion through fixing dunes, restoring wetlands and mangroves, replenishing beaches, and building seawalls and dikes.It will reduce flooding by rehabilitating lagoons and drainages, and by improving watershed managementIt is led by West African governments.The WACA Resilience Investment Project is a collective response to the urgent need to address coastal degradation in a regional, integrated manner. It is an opportunity to strengthen the resilience of West Africas communities and transform their livelihoods, Makhtar Diop, World Banks Vice President for the Africa Region, said.About 42 percent of West Africas Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is generated in coastal areas, where almost one-third of the population resides and communities are, particularly vulnerable to the effects of severe coastal erosion and frequent flooding.To sustain investments and attract more investors, the project will provide technical assistance for regionally integrated spatial planning, prepare a yearly report on the state of West Africas coasts, and support the revision and enforcement of laws and protocols contributing to healthy and productive coasts.The project will boost regional cooperation to address coastal erosion by working with four regional institutionsthe West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), The Abidjan Convention, The Dakar-based Center for Ecological Monitoring (CSE), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).The financial package includes a credit of $120 million and a grant of $70 million from the International Development Association and a grant of $20.25 million from the GEF.The Nordic Development Fund will provide an additional EUR13.1 million to improve resilience in the coastal regions, and the French Facility for the Global Environment will fund light infrastructure, land-use planning, and nature-based solutions against coastal erosion worth EUR1.3 million.More partners are expected to join the effort through a new Platform that will boost the transfer of knowledge, mobilise additional finance and foster political dialogue among countries, and to protect the West African coast.Through the International Waters (IW) focal area, the GEF helps countries jointly manage their transboundary surface water basins, groundwater basins, and coastal and marine systems. IW investments facilitate integrated cross-sectoral approaches that engage the private sector, non-governmental organisations and multilateral institutions.The post $210m cash for West Africas coastal communities coming appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.
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