Mortality rate and life expectancy in Africa: the role of flood occurrence

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of flood occurrence on mortality rate and life expectancy amongst 53 African countries. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilizes panel data from the period 2000–2018 on 53 African countries and system generalized method of moments (system GMM) for the analysis. Findings – The result indicates that flood occurrence causes the destruction of health facilities and the spread of diseases which reduces life expectancy. In addition, flood occurrence increases mortality rate amongst 53 African countries. Research limitations/implications – Practical implications – The study recommends that governments amongst African countries should implement strategies being enshrined in Conference of Parties (COP, 2021) on climate change. This will help to reduce the level of climate change and flood occurrence. Originality/value – Previous studies focused on the adverse effect of flood occurrence without considering the issue of life expectancy amongst African countries. This study contributes to existing empirical studies by examining the effect of flood occurrence on mortality rate and life expectancy amongst African countries.