The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has set up an Emergency Recovery Fund which will disburse $100 million to jump-start reconstruction efforts in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai.
The AfDB is also planning to redirect $1.4 million to the immediate relief effort from savings and extensions of its current projects in Malawi’s water, roads and agriculture sectors.
A delegation from the AfDB visited the capital, Lilongwe, to discuss the institution’s intervention plans with public and civil society officials.
The AfDB has already given $250,000 to Malawi, from its Emergency Relief Fund, to purchase emergency food items to avert hunger following the damage of crops by severe floods.
Malawi’s Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe hailed the AfDB’s intervention and urged the government to focus on creating long-term and sustainable solutions to the country’s flooding problem.
“The African Development Bank couldn’t have come at a better time, to join us in our efforts which are now focused mainly on providing humanitarian relief and reconstruction,” Gondwe said.
The AfDB is also assisting Malawi with measures to combat the effects of climate change and will release $150,000 to assist communities and internally displaced persons impacted by the cyclone.
The AfDB’s long-term plans include designing and developing mechanisms for climate insurance and mitigating climate change.
At least 600 people have been killed and tens of thousands others displaced by Cyclone Idai which affected Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
The World Bank estimates that Cyclone Idai caused at least $2 billion in damages and affected three million people.
