Mathew Dadiya – Abuja
The World Bank has said that the net benefit on average of investing in more resilient infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries would be $4.2 trillion with $4 in benefit for each $1 invested.
This was disclosed on Tuesday in a new report from the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).
The report, Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience that is the ability of infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a natural hazard.
The report examines four essential infrastructure systems: power, water and sanitation, transport, and telecommunications.
“Making them more resilient is critical, the report finds, not only to avoid costly repairs but also to minimize the wide-ranging consequences of natural disasters for the livelihoods and well-being of people.”
World Bank Group President, David Malpass, said that resilient infrastructure is not about roads or bridges or power plants alone.
“It is about the people, the households and the communities for whom this quality infrastructure is a lifeline to better health, better education and better livelihoods,”
Investing in resilient infrastructure is about unlocking economic opportunities for people. The report offers a pathway for countries to follow for a safer, more secure, inclusive and prosperous future for all,” Malpass said.
The report also finds that the lack of resilient infrastructure harms people and firms more than previously understood. Natural disasters, for instance, cause direct damages to power generation and transport infrastructure, costing about $18 billion a year in low- and middle-income countries.
But the wider disruptions that they trigger on households and firms is an even bigger problem.
Altogether, disruptions caused by natural hazards, as well as poor maintenance and mismanagement of infrastructure, costs households and firms at least $390 billion a year in low- and middle-income countries.
“For infrastructure investors – whether governments, development banks or the private sector – it is clear that investing in resilient infrastructure is both sound and profitable,” said John Roome, Senior Director, Climate Change, World Bank. “It is not about spending more, but about spending better.’
‘It is cheaper and easier to build resilience if we look beyond individual assets, like bridges or electric poles, and understand the vulnerabilities of systems and users,” said Stephane Hallegatte, lead author of the report.”
Drawing from a wide range of case studies, global empirical analyses, and modelling exercises, the report also finds a major region and country-specific implications of investing in resilient infrastructure.
The report, stated that reliable access to electricity has more favourable effects on income and social outcomes than access alone in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan: boosting per capita income, study time for girls and women’s participation in the labour force.
It, however, offers five recommendations to ensure that infrastructure systems and users become more resilient: “Get basics right. Tackling poor management and governance of infrastructure systems is key”, the World Bank stated.
