## 1 Introduction
In fact, the level of adaptation will not be based on the magnitude of these climate shocks but on the key proxies of adaptive capacity. In other words, regions with higher adaptive capacity will be more able to cope with these climate shocks despite the higher magnitudes recorded [13; 14; 15; 16]. Therefore, a region's readiness for climate change adaptation is mitigated by climatic variables and adaptive capacity. It is challenging to measure adaptive capacity intrinsically; as such, this work has adopted the proxy-based approach used to quantify and measure adaptive capacity since it depends on an important set of variables. In this regard, in this work, a proxy-based approach is adopted to quantify and measure adaptive capacity. In the context of most African countries, proxies of adaptive capacity such as literacy and poverty rates offer an opportunity through which adaptive capacity can be investigated. These variables are invariably two of the essential proxies of adaptive capacity in Africa as they are most likely to affect other sectors of national and regional life in most countries and regions of Africa [14; 17; 18; 19]. To the best of our knowledge, there are currently no studies that have evaluated the readiness of all the regions of Africa to climate change adaptation based on climate, adaptive capacity and through the index proposed in this study. The only other related study is by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [15] who developed a framework for assessing climate change adaptation in which adaptation readiness captures adaptive capacity, the strength and existence of governance, democracy, and policy structures responsible for whether adaptation occurs. In addition, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [12] worked on adaptation readiness in Seychellles based on governance frameworks. Furthermore, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [20] focused on Mediterranean Europe, Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa capturing adaptation potential through adaptive capacity and adaptation preparedness or readiness. In addition, [PERSON] [21] studied the role of institutional readiness and community resilience in climate change adaptation in Uganda. Finally, [PERSON] [17] explored readiness in adopting a green economy in South Africa. In the latter work, the author notes that readiness is often interchanged with preparedness. Readiness is defined as a complex interaction of parameters and conditionalities required for the uptake of a phenomenon. Key readiness parameters for adopting a green economy include the level of commitment when stakeholders buy in, enhancing institutional setup, developing the necessary legislation, funding mechanisms, and having programs running on the ground. Invariably, these conditions provide the right conditions for the adoption of the green economy. In the context of this current work, an assessment of readiness for climate change adaptation across different regions of Africa is performed through a newly developed readiness index and maps that integrate physical variables in a climate score and socioeconomic variables in an adaptive capacity score. Adaptive capacity is represented by the two proxies of literacy and poverty rates because it is highly representative of the realities in most African contexts and these proxies affect most other proxies. The index is mainly tested in Africa, but it can also be used in other parts of the world. With this index, it is possible to determine the more prepared regions for climate change adaptation. Therefore, this investigation has, as main objectives, the creation and testing of an index called ClimAdaptCap Index across Africa. This is followed by creating the first maps of the regional variation in readiness based on the selected parameters and a new data set that includes precipitation, temperature, literacy, and poverty rate data across Africa.