West Africa Coastal Areas Program (WACA) - Benin [NDF C108]

The following outcomes are expected of the NDF financing

In Benin:

• Feasibility studies, detailed design, tender preparations and supervision of works for the restoration of the land strip at a coastal site in West Benin. 

• Environmental and social impact studies to safeguard the physical investments for the site. 

• Measures for protection of the selected segment of the land strip in Benin.

In Senegal:

• Establishment and operationalisation of a National Coastal Observatory in Senegal. 

• Operationalising and strengthening the geographical information system. 

• Upgrading and strengthening the early warning system.

In the West Africa region:

• Contribute to the design and launch of the WACA Platform, which has as a goal to leverage public and private financing of USD 2 billion. NDF’s original small grant (NDF C77) has already leveraged more than USD 6.5 million of other financing, helped leverage the total project costs (USD 233 million) of this project and will continue to leverage even more financing for the project in the future. 

• Contribute to the design and piloting of new climate financing instruments. 

• Maintain regional and national policy engagement, scale up and prepare new projects based on field evaluation and follow-up to secure uptake of new skills. The WACA Program was showcased at the One Planet Summit in December 2017. 

• Support Independent Technical and Scientific Panel of Experts to ensure that climate criteria and private sector, innovation, leveraging investments become integral parts of the solutions for coastal zone climate resilience. 

• Support the technical implementation of the NDF loans to Benin and Senegal.