DUBAI – The African Development Bank will host a side event to discuss and evaluate the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) at COP28 in Dubai on Saturday.
Through a statement on Wednesday, AfDB said the event will build on the successful unveiling of ACRIFA at the Africa Climate Summit in September in Nairobi, and among others, convene critical stakeholders for a dialogue to find ways to accelerate resource mobilization for the facility and update partners on progress made.
The discussion, the statement added, will highlight the collaborative efforts of ACRIFA’s key strategic partners, and showcase a sample of ACRIFA-aligned pipeline investments presented by anchor stakeholders to bolster targeted resource mobilization efforts towards the implementation of the facility.
“The event will include keynote speeches from prominent climate financiers, a strategic climate adaptation leadership dialogue and an interactive high-level panel discussion featuring the insurance industry and value chain investors,” the statement said.
ACRIFA is a financing facility that aims to develop and leverage the unique capabilities of the insurance sector to de-risk private sector investment across the climate-sensitive agri-food value chains. It also seeks to effectively manage the climate and disaster risks faced by African countries, businesses, and communities.
It expands the Africa Disaster Risk Insurance Program by developing insurance solutions to empower African nations, particularly their agricultural sectors, to prepare for, adapt to, and bolster resilience against the adverse impacts of climate change, including flooding and drought.
The facility aims to raise an initial $1 billion to mobilise concessionary high-risk capital and grants to catalyze the development and uptake of targeted climate insurance solutions.
During its launch in September, AfDB president Dr Akinwumi Adesina termed it as AfDB’s effort to scale up support to insure countries and households against extreme weather patterns, which negatively impact the livelihoods of millions of African farmers, with the majority being women.
“One way we can address this issue is by ensuring that farmers have access to crop and livestock insurance,” he said in Nairobi
The speakers at the Saturday event will include Adesina, WFP executive director Cindy McCain, Green Climate Fund chief Mafalda Duarte, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director General of the African Risk Capacity Group Ibrahima Diong, Hope Murera, the MD and CEO of Zep-Re; Board member of ACRE Africa, COP27 UN Climate Change High-Level Champion Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin
“The African Agri-food system is critically constrained by an insurance protection gap of about 97% for smallholder farmers, and the potential for climate insurance to unlock over $100 billion required in annual financing for agri-businesses is immense yet largely untapped,” AfDB said
In this regard, it noted, insurance solutions, particularly when designed to protect and stimulate investment in agriculture, can help advance Africa’s climate adaptation agenda and provide a safety net for communities, businesses and governments, enabling them to bounce back faster in the wake of climate-induced events.
By profiling the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation, the African Development Bank is advocating insurance to de-risk investments in climate change adaptation. Improved climate risk insurance coverage safeguards producers’ livelihoods and promotes the development of more resilient agricultural value chains.
