WASHINGTON, June 17, 2014—The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$200 million IDA* credit for Nigeria to improve Oyo State’s disaster risk management capabilities, strengthen community-based resilience capacity, and provide support for risk assessment and early warning systems in Ibadan.
Ibadan’s poorest and most vulnerable residents are the most affected by the floods. The most recent floods of August 2011 caused significant human and economic losses primarily in housing, education, agriculture and transport. Project investments will have considerable long term benefits such as improved city functioning and less impacts of flooding on livelihoods and other socio-economic activities in the city.
“Nigerian cities are growing at a scale never seen before and are exposing more people to disaster impacts. Floods and other climate-related shocks are a severe threat to the achievement of the country’s development goals,” said Marie-Francoise Nelly, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria. “It is critical that these cities are able to face these significant challenges, and prepare for potential natural disasters and climate change.”
Recognizing the need for an integrated and long term solution to flooding in Ibadan, the Oyo State Government requested the World Bank's support to finance a flood management project. The Ibadan Urban Flood Management project will benefit the 3.1 million people living in the city, and specifically the 40,200 who reside in flood prone areas. The project will establish early warning and flood response actions and will also finance the rehabilitation of Ibadan city drains, roads and bridges, as well as restoring the flood damaged Eleyele dam. The project will develop a long-term flood risk management framework. It reinforces Oyo State government’s early warning and response capabilities and leverages existing World Bank projects such as the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) in Oyo State.
“By promoting a policy shift from reactive disaster response to preventive flood risk management, both the Federal and the Oyo State Governments have shown strong commitment to flood risk management in Ibadan” said Sateh Chafic El-Arnaout, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project.
