H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union, made a call to action towards increased support for the African Risk Capacity’s resource mobilization and fundraising campaign. In his statement at the opening ceremony of the African Union Extraordinary Humanitarian Summit and Pledging Conference in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on the 27^th May 2022, H.E Macky Sall showcased the tangible impact of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) to Member States over the last decade and the critical role played by the Agency in protecting the lives of millions of people on the continent against natural and weather-related disasters.

[Watch the call to action here. Subtitles are available: https://bit.ly/3NWu1gr]

In addition to H.E. Macky Sall’s endorsement, other key note statements in support of ARC came from H.E. Lazarus Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, encouraging AU Member States to make use of instruments offered by its own institutions, such as the Africa Risk Capacity Programmes and insure some of the recurrent risks. H.E. Pietro Mona, Ambassador of Switzerland to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to AU, UNECA and IGAD indicated the willingness of the Swiss Government to continue to partner and support key innovative African institutions like ARC. The President of Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr Benedict Okey Oramah, also mentioned the ongoing work between the institutions towards disaster risk financing solutions expecting the Banks’s commitments in this regard to the tune of $500 million US dollars.  

As an African solution that makes it possible to respond to the impacts of extreme weather events, ARC through its financial affiliate, ARC Limited (Ltd), enables its member countries to have adequate financial resources so that the first form of assistance to the populations in the event of disasters should come from the state and from the sovereign insurance offered by ARC. Since 2014 onwards, over 72 insurance policies have been signed by Member States representing about US$101.7 million in premiums paid for a corresponding cumulative insurance worth of coverage of US$ 1 billion for the protection of over 100 million vulnerable people in participating countries.

Furthermore, the ARC Group leading up to the Malabo summit, attended the AU Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on migration, refugees and displaced persons. ARC’s participation in a panel discussion on ‘Food security and nutrition in the humanitarian situation in Africa’ was an opportunity to emphasize the interlinkages and complementarities of disaster risk management and humanitarian interventions. This precursor event set the scene for the Extraordinary Summit and allowed for the interrogation of critical matters at hand as the foundations for decision making at the summit.

The key outcome of the Summit includes the adoption of the Malabo Assembly Declaration that emphasized on key aspects of ARC’s work including investing in early warning and preparedness mechanisms.

Note to Editors

About African Risk Capacity Agency

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) was established in 2012 as a Specialised Agency of the African Union (AU) by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries to help AU Member States improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters. The objective of the ARC Agency is to assist AU Member States to reduce the risk of loss and damage and protect Africa’s populations against food insecurity caused by extreme weather events by providing targeted responses to disasters in a timely, cost-effective, objective and transparent manner.

About African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited

The African Risk Capacity Insurance Company Limited is a financial affiliate of the African Risk Capacity (ARC), incorporated initially in Bermuda as a ‘hybrid mutual’ Class 2 insurance company. The membership also includes it capital contributors. The United Kingdom (through DFID) has committed GBP 100 million to the project, the first GBP 30 million of which has already been made available to ARC Ltd, and Germany (via KfW) has committed EUR 50 million, of which EUR 35 million has already been made available to ARC Ltd.

For more information, visit: www.arc.int

For further information please contact:

Doreen Apollos | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 115 517 700 | E-mail: ApollosD@africa-union.org l | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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