Spatial heterogeneity of extreme temperature impacts on African asset wealth growth

Africa lies at the frontline of climate vulnerability and global poverty, yet how extreme temperature changes affect household asset wealth remains poorly understood. To address this gap, this study combines a high-resolution, long-term dataset of African asset wealth with hourly climate observations to quantify the unequal impacts of extreme temperature changes. The results show that rural areas experience significantly larger adverse effects from extreme heat, whereas urban areas exhibit weaker impacts. Moreover, the negative effects increase with increasing distance from cities, highlighting the greater vulnerability of remote rural areas. Notably, the effects are more pronounced in lower-asset wealth regions. Between 2000 and 2023, extreme temperature changes contributed to annual losses equivalent to 2.42% of Africa's asset wealth growth, with pronounced rural–urban disparities. Rural areas experienced greater losses, with annual losses equivalent to 2.54% of their asset wealth growth, compared to only 0.34% in urban areas. Regionally, Middle Africa was most severely affected, with annual losses equivalent to 16.33% of its asset wealth growth. The poorest settlements lost nearly 50% of their annual asset wealth growth, while the wealthiest settlements lost only 1.24%. These findings indicate that extreme temperature changes not only reduce asset wealth growth across Africa but also exacerbate regional wealth disparities, demonstrating how high-resolution wealth monitoring can inform targeted climate policies for vulnerable populations.