Africa struggles to keep track of silent killer

A report in South Africa, published by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs last week, revealed a troubling reality: the government is failing to keep track of dangerous pollutants in the air that South Africans breathe.

Out of 130 air quality monitoring stations across the country, just 44 were working properly in July. A further 43 failed to meet minimum data requirements, while 47 were not operational at all.

The government’s online portal for air quality currently shows that all three monitoring stations in the city of Bloemfontein are out of action, along with both stations in East London. Five of the eight stations in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) are failing to provide data.

Despite the widespread breakdown of monitoring equipment in South Africa, the country’s ability to keep track of outdoor air pollution still compares favourably to most of the continent. While several African countries are gradually building capacity to monitor air quality, there is a near total absence of on-the-ground monitoring in many others.

In South Africa, a report published in June by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Greenpeace Africa estimated that PM2.5 exposure contributed to 42,000 deaths in 2023. It found that health impacts linked to exposure cost $52bn, equivalent to 14% of GDP.

Whereas the United States and Europe have roughly one monitoring station per 500,000 people, in sub-Saharan Africa estimates suggest there is only one station for every 16 million people.

There is an absence of “political will” to address air quality in parts of the continent, says Ngongang Wandji Danube Kirt, a research fellow in air quality management at non-profit group SEI Africa. Meanwhile, officials in some countries fail to appreciate the scale of the problem and how to tackle it.

“Some governments lack capacity in terms of understanding what is the low hanging fruit.”

Growing and costly hazard

According to the limited amount that is known about outdoor air quality in Africa, pollution is a growing health hazard – and one that is imposing a significant economic burden.

Although almost all of the world’s most polluted cities are in South Asia, N’Djamena in Chad ranked as the eighth worst globally for concentrations of dangerous particulate matter in 2024, according to air monitoring company IQAir. Average levels of PM2.5 (a standard measure of air quality) exceeded World Health Organization guidelines by almost twenty times.

The causes of air pollution vary from place to place. Fumes from factories and vehicles are major causes, along with the burning of biomass. In some places, like N’Djamena, dust from sandstorms is also a significant factor.

There are several ways to monitor air quality. One possibility is to use satellite technology to monitor pollutants across a wide area. Only on-the-ground sensors, however, can give a granular view of how air quality varies across cities, providing the data needed to identify pollution hotspots and take preventative action.

Wandji Danube is working on a project to strengthen air quality monitoring in Nairobi, Kampala and Addis Ababa. He points out that data collected by 14 sensors his team have helped deploy in Nairobi reveal major differences in levels of pollutants across different parts of the Kenyan capital. Using sensors to identify high levels of pollution around schools, for example, can be a “game-changer”, he says.

But Wandji Danube emphasises that tackling air pollution is a complex challenge that goes well beyond simply purchasing sensors and other equipment.

Local and national governments need to build capacity to not only collect data, but also analyse it, and then ultimately to deal with sources of pollution where possible.

There is a “fragmented approach” in many cities today, says Wandji Danube. Municipal authorities sometimes collect data, which is not utilised by relevant national-level institutions.

Africa’s urban population is rising rapidly, suggesting that air pollution will continue to worsen until authorities start to take the problem more seriously. The continent has no time to lose in tackling the silent killer.