Accra: The African Union Commission (AUC) is conducting baseline studies across its member states to map current emission levels and identify major sources of air pollution. This initiative focuses particularly on transport systems and rapidly growing urban areas, aiming to guide practical measures to reduce pollution.
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr. Samuel Ogallah, the Climate Change Coordinator at the AUC, highlighted in an interview that the studies form a critical foundation for the Africa Clean Air Programme. This program aims to support countries in designing tailored emission reduction strategies rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. Dr. Ogallah emphasized that African cities are facing increasing air pollution due to ageing vehicle fleets, traffic congestion, open burning, and expanding industrial activity, which have serious consequences for public health.
Dr. Ogallah noted that each country has different emission levels and sources. The baseline assessments will enable governments to benchmark progress over time, strengthen air quality monitoring, and integrate air pollution control into transport planning, urban development, and public health policies. He also pointed out the close link between air pollution and climate change, as many pollutants are also greenhouse gases, compounding health and environmental risks.
The Africa Clean Air Programme is being implemented in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. It works directly with member states to build technical capacity and mobilize support. Dr. Ogallah described Africa as one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change impacts, despite contributing the least to global emissions, and called for stronger international support to help countries meet their climate and clean air goals.
He warned that without urgent action, climate-related disasters and worsening air quality could undermine development gains in African cities. Dr. Ogallah stressed the need for partnerships, solidarity, and concrete action to protect the health of people and the future of cities. The recent release of the State of the Global Air report indicated that Africa experiences some of the worst air pollution and severe health consequences relative to the rest of the world.
In 2019, air pollution was the second leading risk factor for death across Africa after malnutrition. Unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene were the fourth largest risk factors for deaths. The report highlighted that Sub-Saharan Africa is home to five of the world's 10 most heavily polluted countries in terms of ambient fine particulate matter. An estimated 75 percent of the population relies on burning solid fuels for cooking, exposing over 800 million people to high concentrations of harmful pollutants at home every day.
Air pollution exposures from household use of solid fuels and fossil fuel sources, combined with demographic and other shifts, affect the underlying health of the population. This causes uneven impacts across countries in a region where rates of chronic noncommunicable conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are rapidly rising in relation to the burdens imposed by communicable diseases like diarrhea, lower respiratory tract infections, and malaria.
The report also noted that in Niger and Somalia, exposure to air pollution contributes to more than three years of loss in life expectancy. In Egypt, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and South Africa, the combined annual cost of health damages from exposure to harmful particles is more than 5.4 billion U.S. dollars.