ARC gets AfDB approval for Africa Disaster Risks Financing

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) has received the approval of African Development Bank (AfDB) for Africa Disaster Risk Financing, ADriFi. The ADRiFi programme is a timely response for a premium financing support request from a number of RMCs to bridge the resource gap impeding the necessary participation in the African Risk Capacity insurance pool.

Commending the AfDB initiative the Board Chairperson of African Risk Capacity, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said “The disaster risk financing landscape in Africa has received an empowering shot in the arm…let us now move quickly to extend our disaster risk insurance coverage to more member countries which, before now, could not join the ARC pool owing to fiscal constraints.”

While speaking on the approval, the Director-General of ARC, Mr Mohammed Beavogui, said he was elated by the development, according to him, “This is one of those moments when one feels very proud as an African. The faithfulness and commitment of President Adesina and his team to the realisation of this initiative begs for emulation by other regional and multilateral partners. This is critical for us to achieve food security in the continent through ensuring that Africa’s vulnerable populations are insured against the often-overwhelming impacts of climate-induced natural disasters.”

Saluting the huge commitment from both institutions that went into the realisation of the initiative, the ARC’s Chief executive officer, Dolika Banda said, “We now know that collaborative partnerships work when there is good fidelity. ARC will leverage on the crest of this great achievement to connect with other institutions towards a more inclusive disaster risk insurance coverage for Africa.”  She added that the ADRiFi Programme will focus on national institutional strengthening, policy development, risk profiling, and contingency planning for disasters for participating RMCs.  “In line with the agreed structure, it will support countries in developing climate risk profiles, strengthen contingency plans and support risk transfer through premium subsidies of up to 50 percent over a five-year period. By Year 5 of the programme, the country will be paying the full premium.