The health focus in Sub-Saharan Africa has largely centered on infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria – which is supported by a $5 billion global fund. But the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows that the region, home to five of the top 10 most polluted countries, impacts life expectancy in a comparable and sometimes more devastating way than these other causes. Yet, it receives just $238,000 annually on the whole African continent—far less than the average price of a single-family home in the United States. That is certainly the case in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—the most polluted country in the region and sixth globally—where particulate pollution in 2022 was nearly 6.9 times higher than the World Health Organization guideline. As a result, the average resident of the DRC is losing 2.9 years off their life expectancy. That’s compared to just 3.6 months due to HIV/AIDS. Across Central and West Africa—home to 660.5 million people living in 27 countries—the average person is set to lose 1.7 years off their lives, translating to 1.9 billion total life years lost, if the current levels of pollution persist.
Assuming business as usual, the situation could worsen as energy demands are expected to triple across the African continent by 2030. But there are early signs of progress. Not long ago, none of the 27 Central and West African countries had national standards for particulate pollution. Since 2018, two out of the 27 countries in the region have set a standard. Across the entirety of Africa, 17 of 61 countries have adopted some legislative instruments to monitor air quality and 13 countries have set a national standard, including the most recent addition––Uganda.