Flooding in Lagos, Nigeria is bad. And through internal documents obtained from the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, The Xylom is able to quantify its impacts on local residents and Nigerians as a whole for the first time.
Nearly 16 M Nigerians are exposed to 1-in-100-year flood threats, of which 4.2 M are urban. ~25% of its annual GDP (£105.5 B) is at threat, with around £36.7 B concentrated in urban areas. These figures are likely to increase due to climate change.
Lagos state, the second most populous state in Nigeria and the one with the largest urban population, has by far the highest proportion of residents at risk of flooding who are urbanites at 86.59%; only Delta state (54%) even comes close to half of that. This poses unique challenges and opportunities in mitigation + resilience measures.
