The European Commission has approved a new €235 million humanitarian assistance package, equivalent to about $256 million, as West and Central Africa confront a deepening crisis driven by conflict, food shortages and climate shocks that continue to push millions into extreme vulnerability.
The funding comes at a critical moment for the region, where overlapping crises have intensified humanitarian needs across multiple countries, particularly in the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. According to official EU data, more than 12.4 million people in the Central Sahel alone require urgent humanitarian support, as violence, displacement and food insecurity worsen.
The package is designed to address immediate life threatening conditions while also strengthening resilience among affected communities. It will fund emergency food assistance, healthcare, nutrition services, shelter, clean water and sanitation, as well as education support for displaced populations and host communities struggling to cope with rising demand for basic services.
A significant portion of the funding will be directed toward the Central Sahel, where €75 million has been allocated to support emergency interventions in conflict affected and hard to reach areas. This includes food aid, protection services and logistics support for humanitarian operations, alongside disaster preparedness efforts aimed at reducing the impact of future shocks.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is also receiving a major share of the funding, with €33 million earmarked to address what officials describe as one of the country’s most severe food and nutrition crises in recent years. Nearly 35 million people in Nigeria require emergency food assistance, while 6.4 million children are acutely malnourished, including around 2 million facing life threatening conditions.
The crisis in Nigeria is closely linked to ongoing insecurity in the North East and North West, where armed conflict has disrupted farming, displaced communities and limited access to markets. Combined with rising food prices and climate related pressures, these factors have created a fragile humanitarian situation that continues to deteriorate.
Chad is another key beneficiary of the funding, receiving more than €72 million as it grapples with the spillover effects of the Sudan conflict. Since April 2023, the country has hosted over 919,000 Sudanese refugees along with hundreds of thousands of returning nationals, placing immense pressure on already limited resources and infrastructure.
In Cameroon, €16.6 million will support nearly 3 million people in need, including over 2.2 million displaced individuals affected by conflict and instability in multiple regions. Assistance will focus on food security, healthcare, nutrition, protection services and access to water and sanitation.
The Central African Republic is also set to receive €22 million to fund multi sectoral humanitarian programmes. The country continues to face persistent instability and hosts thousands of refugees and returnees, many of whom depend on external aid for survival.
Beyond these countries, the EU has allocated additional resources to coastal West African states including Ghana, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo, where insecurity and displacement are increasingly spreading from the Sahel. Over €6 million will support emergency response efforts in these areas, reflecting growing concern about the expansion of instability across the region.
EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib described the situation as a convergence of multiple crises, warning that the scale of need requires sustained international attention. She said, “West and Central Africa is facing a storm of humanitarian crises, driven by conflict, poverty, hunger, instability, and climate shocks,” adding that for millions of people, aid represents “food on the table, clean water, medicine, shelter, and a chance for their children to learn again.”
The EU remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian donors, providing assistance to millions of people globally each year, often in regions where crises are compounded by weak governance, environmental stress and limited economic opportunities.
However, experts warn that humanitarian aid alone cannot resolve the underlying drivers of the crisis in West and Central Africa. Long term solutions will require coordinated efforts across security, development and governance, as well as increased investment in climate resilience and economic stability.
As conflict, climate change and economic pressures continue to converge, the latest funding underscores the urgency of the situation. For countries across the Sahel and beyond, the challenge is not only to respond to immediate needs but to prevent the crisis from deepening further and spreading to new regions.
