New research hubs in Johannesburg and Kumasi aim to turn African climate science into policy as heatwaves, floods, and dust storms intensify.
When temperatures in parts of West Africa surged above 40 degrees Celsius last February, meteorological agencies in Ghana and Nigeria issued repeated heat warnings. Health authorities braced for a rise in heat‑related illness as the “heat index”, a measure that blends temperature and humidity, climbed to around 50 degrees Celsius, conditions scientists described as “dangerous humid heat.”
A rapid analysis later found that human‑caused climate change made that heatwave in southern West Africa about ten times more likely and roughly 4 degrees hotter than it would otherwise have been. Researchers warned that if global warming reaches 2 degrees above preindustrial levels, similar events could occur about once every two years.
For health systems across Africa, where clinics are already stretched by infectious diseases, underfunding, and rapid urbanisation, such extremes pose an increasingly urgent test. Now, African universities and their partners are launching a new effort to meet it: three regional “climate and health” consortia designed to generate local evidence and feed it directly into policy.
Backed by the global health foundation Wellcome, two of the consortiums, in Southern and Western Africa, will receive an initial £40 million, with a further £20 million earmarked for a third hub in Eastern Africa. The first two will be led by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana.
“Wellcome will provide an initial £40 million for two new consortia in Southern and Western Africa, with a further £20 million earmarked to set up a third consortium in Eastern Africa,” Wits said in announcing the initiative. The goal, Wellcome and its partners say, is to put African scientists and policymakers “at the centre of decisions” on protecting communities from climate‑driven health threats.
A Hotter, More Fragile Continent
Africa has already warmed by more than 1 degree Celsius since the start of the 20th century, according to health agencies and scientific assessments. That shift is driving more frequent and intense heatwaves and droughts, alongside floods and storms that can decimate crops, damage infrastructure and spread disease.
In February 2024, the World Weather Attribution group found that climate change made the southern West Africa humid heatwave a one‑in‑10‑year event in today’s climate, and that similar heatwaves could become far more common in a 2‑degree world. Temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in some regions, and the heat index, which reflects how hot conditions feel to the human body, reached about 50 degrees.
Health officials worry that such extremes could overwhelm clinics and hospitals that often lack reliable electricity, cooling, and staff. International agencies have warned that climate shocks are already undermining food and water security, worsening undernutrition and displacement, and adding pressure to fragile health systems across the continent.
New Hubs in Johannesburg and Kumasi
The Southern Africa consortium, anchored at Wits, will focus on the health and economic impacts of heatwaves and floods, while building stronger data systems to support what its architects call “evidence‑informed action.”
Early work is expected to look at extreme heat in South Africa and Zimbabwe and flood‑related health risks in Malawi, with particular attention to pregnant women, children, older adults, and people living with chronic conditions.
Wits says the consortium will “quantify, track and cost climate‑health impacts; test adaptation innovations, including anticipatory cash transfers, support for mental health resilience and complex‑cooling interventions; and drive step‑changes in regional stakeholder coordination and policies to improve health and save lives.”
The university’s Planetary Health research programme already hosts Wellcome‑funded projects on heat exposure and maternal health, as well as comparative studies of heat adaptation in low‑ and middle‑income countries.
In West Africa, the KNUST‑led consortium will examine how heatwaves, dust storms, and drought affect health and nutrition in Ghana, Senegal, and other countries, in partnership with institutions including the University of Ghana and Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar.
Researchers plan to assess not only the immediate health impacts but also economic costs and potential co‑benefits of different interventions, so that ministries of health, environment, and finance can act from a shared evidence base.
According to Wellcome, the consortiums are expected to produce “high‑quality evidence” on Africa’s climate and health challenges, accelerate “evidence‑informed action,” and strengthen collaborative networks that include communities most affected by climate change.
Equity, Leadership, and the Politics of Evidence
The agendas for the consortia were developed over two years in consultation with regional partners and align with pan‑African frameworks that emphasise equity in both science and health, Wits says.
That focus reflects a long‑standing criticism from African researchers that climate and health studies on the continent have too often been designed and led from abroad.
“Africa is on the frontline of climate change, with women and marginalised communities already suffering the worst health impacts,” said Dr. Modi Mwatsama, Head of Capacity and Field Development at Wellcome. “By supporting African science and leadership, these new consortia will generate the evidence and locally led solutions needed to improve health and save lives – now and in the future.”
Dr. Adelheid Onyango, Director of the Health Systems and Services Cluster at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, said that health leaders “make vital decisions with limited resources, so having access to rigorous, context‑relevant evidence is essential.
It ensures every investment backs interventions that truly work.” She described the new consortia as a potential “critical gap” filler for the climate and health field in Africa.
Wellcome’s Climate Impacts Awards and related schemes explicitly aim to “make the impacts of climate change on physical and mental health visible to drive urgent climate policy action at scale,” especially in low‑ and middle‑income countries. The African hubs will serve as a major test of that strategy.
A Test Case with Global Implications
Climate projections suggest that if global average temperatures reach 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, West Africa could experience heatwaves similar to the 2024 event roughly every two years. Without substantial investment in adaptation, experts warn, such extremes could reverse gains in development and poverty reduction across large parts of the continent.
Yet the same conditions that heighten Africa’s vulnerability, rapid urbanisation, a young population, and a heavy reliance on climate‑sensitive livelihoods, also make it a critical testing ground for new ways to protect health in a hotter world.
Wellcome argues that by “supporting locally led expertise and innovation,” the consortia can help accelerate solutions that respond to community priorities and strengthen resilience.
The hope is that tools forged in laboratories, clinics, and ministries from Johannesburg to Kumasi, from heat action plans to redesigned clinics and early‑warning systems, will guide responses not only in Africa, but in other regions confronting the health risks of a fast‑changing climate.
