To protect nations from catastrophic weather-related calamities, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has introduced the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA).
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, made this declaration in a statement posted on the bank’s website.
At the African Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, Adesina gave a speech.
The bank will host the facility, which transforms its ground-breaking Africa Disaster Risk Insurance Programme into a facility that will create insurance to support African nations.
“In particular, their agriculture sectors should be resilient to the negative consequences of climate change, such as flooding and drought, by planning for them, making appropriate adaptations, and doing so.
It will raise an initial $1 billion in grants and low-interest high-risk finance to spur the creation and adoption of insurance solutions.
This will aid in communities’ and businesses’ adaptation to climate change, he said.
The programme, according to the head of the AfDB, is part of the bank’s attempt to scale up assistance for protecting people and nations against catastrophic weather patterns.
According to him, extreme weather patterns have a detrimental effect on the lives of millions of African farmers, the majority of whom are women.
He contends that ensuring farmers have access to crop and animal insurance is one method of addressing this problem.
The Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation will provide credit insurance to investment portfolios focused on agri-food systems, economic development, and the environment.
To ensure that business possibilities flow through them to continental and worldwide re-insurers, it would involve primary insurers throughout Africa.
Additionally, he added, “it will help national governments manage climate disasters more effectively.”
The African Union Chair and President of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, addressed at the occasion and called the programme a vital innovation.
The establishment of ACRIFA is timely given the severity and frequency of national disasters in African nations, including floods and drought, which have a negative influence on agriculture.
“It will aid in enhancing our capacity for adaptation and resilience.
Only 2,000 square km make up Comoros. When we face serious climatic hazards, we are unable to realise our tourism potential.
And because Comoros is still dealing with the negative effects of climate change, this facility is important, he continued.
The African Risk Capacity Group’s Director-General and Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, Ibrahima Diong, stated that ACRIFA would aid in scaling up the work being done by the group.
According to him, risk transfer involves more than simply insurance premiums and also the events that occur before a disaster, which is why there is a facility that will aid in the collection of data used to fuel early warning systems in Africa.
He declared that ACRIFA would build new alliances to provide services to customers like the World Food Programme.
The World Food Programme’s Martin Frick expressed enthusiasm for ACRIFA’s ability to increase insurance coverage for farmers who require it.
According to Frick, “The Facility will help unlock private sector capital and we can inject trust in the market and unleash more capital than is currently provided in the market.”
Dr. Beth Dunford, vice president for agriculture, human, and social development at AfDB, commented after a panel discussion regarding the facility’s potential that action must be taken right away.
“The impact of a booming climate insurance business in Africa is about lives, not just policies, as we discuss today.
It is about an Africa that not only survives but also prospers under climatic uncertainty, she continued.(NAN)
