Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and the largest international seaport in East Africa with
more than 650,000 inhabitants. The city has a history of natural disasters associated with extreme
climatic events, most recently the severe rain-induced flooding in October 2006, which affected about
60,000 people in the city and caused damage to important infrastructure. As the city is expected to
continue to experience rapid growth, the future impacts of such events can only increase. Changes in
sea level and storm surges are components of climate change which have the potential to further
increasing the threats of flooding within the city.
This GIS-based study provides a first quantitative estimate, both now and through the 21st
The methods used here could be applied more widely to other coastal cities in Africa and elsewhere to
better understand present and future exposure and worst-case risks due to climate change and rising
sea levels.
Century, of
the number of people and associated economic assets potentially exposed to coastal flooding due to
sea-level rise and storm surges in Mombasa. The current exposure to a 1:100 year extreme water level
for the whole of Mombasa district is estimated at 190,000 people and US$470 million in assets. About
60 percent of this exposure is concentrated in the Mombasa Island division of the city where about
117,000 people (2005 estimate) live below 10m elevation. By 2080, the exposure could grow to over
380,000 people and US$15 billion in assets assuming the well-known A1B sea-level and socioeconomic
scenario. Future exposure is more sensitive to socio-economic than climate scenarios.
However, there is significant scope within the city limits to steer future development to areas that are
not threatened by sea-level rise. Hence, forward planning to focus population and asset growth in less
vulnerable areas could be an important part of a strategic response to sea-level rise.