The European Commission has approved €235m in new humanitarian assistance for West and Central Africa, with Nigeria and the Central Sahel emerging as major beneficiaries amid worsening food insecurity, conflict, and climate-related shocks across the region.
Nigeria is set to receive €33m (approximately $36m) from the package to address what officials describe as one of the country’s most severe food and nutrition crises in recent years. According to humanitarian estimates, nearly 35 million Nigerians currently require emergency food assistance, while about 6.4 million children are acutely malnourished, including roughly 2 million facing life-threatening conditions.
The funding will support critical interventions in Nigeria’s North East and North West regions, focusing on emergency food assistance, health and nutrition services, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and education for displaced and vulnerable populations.
The broader funding initiative targets escalating humanitarian needs across West and Central Africa, where overlapping crises—ranging from armed conflict and mass displacement to climate shocks and economic instability—continue to strain already fragile systems.
A significant portion of the aid is directed to the Central Sahel, which will receive €75m (about $82m). The region remains one of the hardest-hit globally, with over 12.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance due to persistent insecurity and large-scale displacement.
Other major allocations include more than €72m (around $78.5m) for Chad, which has absorbed over 919,000 refugees fleeing the Sudan crisis since 2023, alongside nearly 390,000 returning nationals. The funding will prioritise shelter, food assistance, water and sanitation, and protection services, particularly in the Lake Chad Basin.
Cameroon will receive €16.6m to support close to 3 million people in need, including 2.2 million internally displaced persons, while the Central African Republic is set to receive €22m to fund multi-sectoral assistance covering food security, healthcare, education, and livelihoods.
Additional allocations include €4.8m for Mauritania to assist refugees and vulnerable communities, as well as €6m for coastal West African countries such as Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, where insecurity and displacement pressures are rising. A further €6.4m has been earmarked for regional emergency response initiatives.
The aid package is designed to deliver life-saving assistance across multiple sectors, including food aid, healthcare, nutrition, shelter, clean water, sanitation, protection services, and emergency education for displaced persons, host communities, and populations in hard-to-reach areas.
Speaking on the development, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, said the scale and complexity of the crises in the region require sustained and coordinated international support.
She described West and Central Africa as facing a “storm of humanitarian crises” driven by conflict, hunger, poverty, instability, and climate shocks, noting that humanitarian assistance remains critical to survival for millions of people.
The latest intervention underscores the European Union’s continued commitment to supporting vulnerable populations in Africa, particularly as conflict dynamics in the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin intensify and spillover effects increasingly impact neighbouring countries.
Analysts say Nigeria’s inclusion among the top recipients reflects the growing severity of its humanitarian challenges, especially in conflict-affected regions where displacement, food insecurity, and limited access to basic services persist.
The funding also aligns with broader efforts by international partners to strengthen resilience, improve coordination, and ensure that humanitarian responses are effectively targeted and sustainable over the long term.
As pressures mount across the region, stakeholders warn that continued collaboration between governments, international organisations, and development partners will be essential to addressing immediate needs while laying the groundwork for longer-term recovery and stability.
