Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: African countries respond to climate change-driven wildfires, drought, and flooding; Gabon ends a 19-year fishing agreement with the European Union, and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema secures a second five-year term.
In recent weeks, deadly wildfires have ravaged forests across Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, while seasonal floods have displaced thousands of people across West Africa. These climate extremes compound a severe food crisis that has been growing over the past year, driven by prolonged droughts and erratic weather patterns that heavily damaged regional crop yields.
In Nigeria, where roads have been submerged in the deluge, experts have warned that flooding has changed from being a seasonal challenge into a persistent problem worsened by climate change and poor city planning.
In the capital of Abuja, politicians and environmental experts have criticized the federal government for allowing the construction of commercial and residential buildings on green belts that could have absorbed some of the floodwater. Critics also argue that the government has failed to address long-standing waste and drainage issues.
