The World Meteorological Organization and the Federal Government of Nigeria have called for increased public and private investment in weather, climate and water services as governments and development partners enter the final four years of a global drive to close hydrometeorological capacity gaps by 2030.
The call came at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Alliance for Hydromet Development, hosted in Africa for the first time and being held at Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos from 13 to 15 October. The meeting, themed “Partnerships, Innovation and Sustainable Investment in Weather, Water and Climate Services,” brought together governments, international financial institutions, climate-finance organizations, development partners, private-sector leaders, and scientists.
WMO President Dr Abdulla Ahmed Al Mandous warned that extreme weather is intensifying while many national meteorological and hydrological services still lack the basic resources needed to issue life-saving warnings and support economic growth. He said the Alliance, launched at COP25 in Madrid in 2019, had advanced the Country Hydromet Assessment, Hydromet Gap Reports and the Systematic Observations Financing Facility, which provides long-term support for basic observations, particularly in Least Developed Countries.
Al Mandous cited Nigeria as an example of regional leadership, noting that it helped pilot the Country Hydromet Assessment and had moved from being a beneficiary to providing expertise, including supporting Burkina Faso as a peer reviewer. He said investments in Nigeria’s weather and climate services under the ECOWAS Hydromet Initiative yield an estimated economic return of 19 to one.
He added that the UN Early Warnings for All initiative aims to protect everyone on Earth with multi-hazard early-warning systems and said the Alliance would play a central role in meeting that target and advancing the forthcoming WMO Strategic Plan 2028–2031. His four priorities to 2030 are increased investment in national meteorological and hydrological services; stronger legislation, governance, and institutions; deeper partnerships serving agriculture, water, energy, transport, and health; and expanded regional cooperation that enables African institutions to share expertise and lead locally driven solutions.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, *Festus Keyamo, CON, SAN,* said reliable weather, water, and climate information should be treated as critical national development infrastructure rather than merely as forecasting services. He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening the Nigerian Meteorological Agency’s institutional, technical, and operational capacity, highlighting improved staff welfare, digital transformation, institutional reforms, and the NiMet 2026–2030 Strategic Plan.
Keyamo called for stronger private-sector participation across aviation, satellite technology, insurance, agriculture, energy, telecommunications, data analytics, and financial services, arguing that government alone could not finance the sector’s expansion. Citing the Hydromet Gap Report 2024, he said hydromet investments in ECOWAS countries could return $4 to $19 for every $1 invested, while early-warning and climate-intelligence investments could save up to $15 for every $1 spent.
NiMet Director-General and Chief Executive Officer Professor Charles Anosike said Africa accounts for roughly 30 percent of the global weather-observation deficit and has only about one-eighth of the minimum weather-station density recommended by WMO. He added that compliance rates among 53 countries, including least developed countries and small island developing states, stand at seven percent for surface land stations and nine percent for upper-air stations.
Anosike said Nigeria’s large land area and limited public funding leave many rural, agricultural, and remote border communities without adequate observation infrastructure. He urged development banks, climate funds, philanthropies, and private investors to complement government budgets by financing radar systems, remote sensing, analytics, high-performance computing, digital communications, and data platforms that meet WMO standards.
He highlighted NiMet’s support for aviation, agriculture, maritime operations, and disaster-risk management through aeronautical meteorological services, seasonal climate predictions, agrometeorological advisories, maritime forecasts, impact-based forecasts, flash-flood risk maps, heavy-rainfall forecasts, and severe-weather alerts. He said the agency was also moving from simply producing information to co-producing practical services with users, including climate-smart agriculture tools, digital advisory services, and weather-index insurance.
Anosike said meteorological information creates the greatest value when linked to decisions, financial instruments, and concrete action, adding that stronger climate services would protect lives, raise agricultural productivity, support aviation safety, and reduce economic losses. He thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Keyamo for supporting NiMet’s workforce and institutional development.
Speaking on behalf of WMO Secretary-General Professor Celeste Saulo , Daniel Kull said national meteorological and hydrological services continue to face unpredictable financing, ageing infrastructure, operational and maintenance challenges, and shortages of skilled personnel. He identified three priorities for the Alliance’s next phase: strengthening collective action and investment; harnessing artificial intelligence, satellite observations, digital technologies, and cloud computing through stronger partnerships; and placing long-term sustainability at the centre of investments while safeguarding the authoritative public role of national services.
Kull said the Alliance could help countries turn identified needs into credible investment priorities and project pipelines for ministries of finance and planning, climate funds, development banks, bilateral partners, and philanthropy. He also highlighted the Weather, Climate and Water Intelligence Commons, a pooled financing mechanism supporting the global backbone of observations, data exchange, prediction, early warning, and climate services alongside the Systematic Observations Financing Facility and the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems initiative.
Al Mandous urged participants to turn assessments into investments, investments into lasting capacity, and early warnings into early action that saves lives and livelihoods.
The meeting, which also featured presentations by representatives of the Lagos State Governor and the WMO Secretary-General, is expected to produce stronger partnerships, innovative financing, practical commitments, and a clearer investment pathway for Nigeria, Africa and other developing regions.
