Ghana loses approximately $200 million annually due to the impact of natural disasters, with over two million of its population affected each year, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) said on Tuesday.
This significant economic loss, equivalent to nearly two per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), underscores the urgent need for investment in disaster risk reduction.
The Director-General of NADMO, Major (Rtd) Dr Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon, disclosed this at the relaunch of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Risk Management in Accra.
He stressed that investing in preparedness is far more economical than funding disaster response and recovery.
“If you invest $1 in disaster risk reduction, you save an average of about $5.5 in disaster response and recovery,” he said.
He attributed the recurring losses to the dormant state of national coordination platforms over the past 15 years, resulting in uncoordinated efforts.
Supporting the data, a representative from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Ms Isabel Njihia, cited a World Bank report indicating that more than 4.3 million Ghanaians are expected to face a severe, one-in-100-year flood event.
She revealed that flood events alone cost the nation about $100 million, a figure that could double by 2050 if no decisive action is taken.
Ms Njihia pointed to the 2023 heavy rainfall and dam spillage in the Volta Basin, which displaced more than 26,000 people, as a stark reminder of the devastating human and economic costs of climate-induced disasters.
GNA