Landslide Risk Assessment for the Built Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper presents an overview of the findings from a series of country-scale landslide risk assessments conducted on behalf of the governments of five Sub-Saharan countries, the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Niger and Senegal sample a wide range of Sub-Saharan Africa’s different geographies and are characterised by contrasting levels of development. Landslide hazard, exposure and vulnerability therefore differ from country to country, resulting in significant spatial variation of landslide risk. In East Africa; Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda are characterised by mountainous and seismically active terrain which results in a relatively high landslide hazard. In conjunction with rapid urbanisation and a population which is expected to rise from around 170 million in 2010 to nearly 300 million in 2050, this means that landslides pose a significant risk to the built environment. In West Africa, a combination of low landslide hazard and lower exposure in Niger and Senegal results in comparatively low landslide risk. This paper also describes areas with perceived misconceptions with regard to the levels of landslide risk. These are areas of only low to moderate landslide hazard but where urbanisation has resulted in a concentration of exposed buildings and infrastructure that are vulnerable to landslides, resulting in higher landslide risk.