The African Risk Capacity Insurance Limited (ARC Ltd) has handed a cheque for FCFA 442,824,819.30 (equivalent of US$738,539.88) to the Government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to provide rapid assistance to vulnerable population in the Central Region of the country following severe rainfall deficits in the 2019 agricultural season.
ARC had on September 12, 2019 announced the payout to Cote d’Ivoire when the Africa RiskView, the Agency’s parametric tool, detected that the irregular and insufficient rainfall in the central region will affect the food security of an estimated 400 000 people by the end of the season.
Following the announcement, and in line with a pre-existing Contingency Plan, the Government and ARC held review meetings on the Final Implementation Plan (FIP) which was subsequently approved by the country’s Peer Review Mechanism (PRM) on October 25, 2019 with clear recommendations on how the payout will be applied.
Accordingly, the Government will apply the payout in the already established Cash Transfer Programme implemented by the Ministry of Solidarity. Social cohesion & Fight against poverty in the central region. According to the FIP, the ARC payout will benefit up to 32,496 persons corresponding to 6,500 households who will receive an additional aid of FCFA50,000 from the Government.
Receiving the cheque on behalf of the people of Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Adama Coulibaly, the Honourable Minister for Economy and Finance, reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the citizens’ welfare. “The Government of Cote d’Ivoire takes the food security of its populations very seriously. Therefore, His Excellency, President Alassane Ouattara supports th collaboration with African Risk Capacity to ensure we can provide timely assistance to our vulnerable population and strengthen their capacity to cope with this kind of disaster.”
Côte d’Ivoire has been a member of the ARC Agency since 2014; and subscribed to the ARC Insurance Ltd pool for the first time in 2019 by signing two policies for rainfall deficit covering its Central and Northern regions. The recorded severe rainfall deficits occurred mainly in the Hambol Valley, Gbeke, and Marahoué regions, “Providing Member States with the innovative tools to respond to natural disaster risks in a more timely and predictable manner gratifies our efforts,” remarked UN-ASG Mohamed Beavogui, the Director-General of ARC Agency. “We are grateful to the Government of Cote d’Ivoire, and especially the Minister of Economy and Finance, for the confidence in our mechanism which has brought hope to the vulnerable population affected by the drought”, ASG Beavogui added.
In her message, Ms. Dolika Banda, the CEO of ARC Insurance Limited, expressed the optimism that the payout will deliberately target to benefit women. “Often, when natural disasters of this nature occur, the lives and livelihoods of women and, especially female-headed households are disproportionately impacted. We are happy that the details of the FIP for the payout adequately reflect our mutual concern for gender”, Ms. Banda said.
ARC was established on the principle that investing in preparedness and early warning through an innovative financing approach is highly cost-effective and can save upward of four dollars for every dollar invested ex ante.
With the support of the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, France, The Rockefeller Foundation and the United States, ARC assists AU Member States in reducing the risk of loss and damage caused by extreme weather events affecting Africa’s populations by providing, through sovereign disaster risk insurance, targeted responses to natural disasters in a more timely, costeffective, objective and transparent manner. ARC is now using its expertise to help tackle some of the other greatest threats faced by the continent, including outbreaks and epidemics.
Since 2014, 37 policies have been signed by Member States with US$74million paid in premiums for a cumulative insurance coverage of US$544million for the protection of 54million vulnerable population in participating countries.
