Niamey, July 19, 2019 – The four countries bordering Lake Chad on Friday launched a fund aimed at collecting $100 million to help counter climate change and a devastating jihadist insurgency. West Africa’s largest lake — whose shoreline is shared by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — has shrunk by 90 percent since the 1960s, a fall blamed on global warming and poor water management. The area is a stronghold for Nigerian-based Boko Haram militants, whose decade-old revolt has left thousands of dead and displaced more than two million. The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) said the “stabilisation funds” would initially have a proposed budget of around $100 million (around 90 million euros). Sweden pledged around $8 million (around 7 million euros), the LCBC said, while the European Union (EU), Britain and Germany promised “assistance”.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 19, 2019 14:26 UTC