NiMet seeks private sector investment to bridge Africa’s 30 per cent weather data gap

THE Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has called for increased private-sector investment and stronger public-private partnerships to address Africa’s widening weather and climate observation gaps, which account for approximately 30 percent of the global observation deficit.

Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Professor Charles Anosike, made the call at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Alliance for Hydromet Development, holding at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.

Anosike, who is also Nigeria’s Permanent Representative with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), said Africa had only about 12.5 percent of the minimum weather station density recommended by the WMO, undermining the continent’s capacity to generate reliable weather forecasts and climate information.

He said, compliance with international observation standards among 53 African countries, including 36 Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, stands at only seven percent for surface land stations and nine percent for upper-air stations.

He warned that inadequate observation infrastructure was limiting the availability of foundational data required to improve global forecasting accuracy, strengthen disaster preparedness and support climate-resilient development.

The NiMet chief said Nigeria, with a land area exceeding 900,000 square kilometres, required substantially greater meteorological observation coverage to meet WMO standards, noting that limited funding had left many rural, agricultural and remote border communities without standard weather observation stations.

“Modernising weather and climate observation infrastructure requires significant capital investment because public budgets alone cannot cover the high costs of building, upgrading and maintaining global and regional monitoring networks,” he said.

Anosike urged governments to complement public funding with private-sector capital for weather radar infrastructure, remote sensing, data analytics and digital platforms.

He identified climate services as a high-impact investment opportunity, driven by increasing extreme weather events, climate resilience requirements and aviation safety obligations.

The NiMet director-general also called for stronger integration of hydrometeorological information into financial decision-making, including agricultural lending, insurance pricing, infrastructure investment, corporate sustainability reporting and the assessment of physical climate risks.

He said demonstrating the economic value of reliable weather and climate information would strengthen the case for sustained investment in the infrastructure and systems required to generate such data.

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The meeting, which brings together governments, national meteorological and hydrological services, climate finance institutions, development banks, international organisations, private-sector operators and researchers, is expected to advance discussions on regional coordination, institutional capacity and sustainable financing for hydrometeorological services.

Anosike said the Alliance for Hydromet Development represented a critical collective effort to address persistent gaps in weather, water and climate services, particularly in developing countries.

He noted that demand for accurate and timely weather and climate information was increasing as climate variability and climate change intensified weather-related risks, while advances in satellite observation, numerical weather prediction, artificial intelligence, data analytics, high-performance computing and digital communications created new opportunities for delivering actionable climate services.

He called on financial institutions, development banks, private investors, philanthropic organisations and national and regional climate funds to commit resources to weather and climate services.

According to him, public-private partnerships can complement government financing by combining private-sector capital, efficiency and risk-sharing with public oversight and resources to develop infrastructure and deliver essential services.

Also speaking at the event, the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, described the services of the NiMet as critical national infrastructure, stressing that accurate weather forecasts are essential to aviation safety, economic productivity and the protection of lives and investments.

Keyamo said hydrometeorological services were a matter of life and death in aviation, noting that safe and efficient flight operations depended heavily on reliable weather, water and climate information.

He said the importance of meteorological services to aviation was comparable to their contribution to agriculture, arguing that both sectors relied significantly on accurate weather information for effective operations and planning.

“For aviation and agriculture, I think it’s fifty-fifty,” Keyamo said, disagreeing with the suggestion that agriculture was the principal beneficiary of meteorological services.

“Without NiMet, we wouldn’t even be safe. We can’t fly, and that’s what leads to the translation of flight delays and cancellations and everything. For us, it’s a matter of life and death in aviation, the services of NiMet”.