African Risk Capacity Ltd.

With the Southern African Development Community Secretariat (SADC) region experiencing increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, the financial burden on governments and communities is growing.   During COP29, ARC Ltd. CEO, Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu, participated in a panel discussion on Climate Change Adaptation and Drought Mitigation, focusing on the impact of El Niño-induced extreme weather events in the SADC region, where panellists reiterated the importance of proactive, rather than reactive, climate action.   Held on 19 November at the Zimbabwe Pavillion, this discussion brought together key stakeholders, including the Government of Zimbabwe, SADC, the World Food Programme, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and ARC Ltd., to address pressing challenges related to climate change and the financial implications on vulnerable regions.   Our participation in these dialogues is crucial as it allows us to showcase our disaster risk financing mechanisms, which play an essential role in helping SADC countries respond more effectively to the impacts of El Niño – such as the current drought in Zimbabwe.   These mechanisms can provide immediate liquidity and reduce the long-term financial strain caused by recurring climate disasters.   #DisasterRiskInsurance #ClimateResilience #ClimateChange #SADC #ElNino #COP29 #Zimbabwe Eva Grace Kavuma Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

The COP29 session on "Disaster Risk Financing Mechanisms for Successful Climate Change Adaptation in Africa" highlighted the transformative role of insurance in creating resilience. “It transforms your funding from being based on moral obligations to being based on a contractual obligation,” explained African Risk Capacity (ARC) Ltd.’s CEO, Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu, who participated in the panel discussion. This means governments and communities can shift from unpredictable funding to pre-arranged solutions, allowing for better planning and quicker responses to crises. Over the past decade, ARC Ltd. has disbursed more than $230 million in claims, with $70 million recently reaching Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe. “ARC provides 85% of all pre-arranged financing on the African continent. We are a critical part of the disaster risk financing landscape,” Ndlovu emphasised. This is particularly evident in The Gambia, where a pilot micro-insurance initiative is transforming disaster preparedness and response for local farmers. “It’s not just about the finance,” explained Bubacar Zaidi Jallow, Deputy Permanent Secretary at The Gambia’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources. “The technical capacity building that they [ARC Ltd. and the Global Shield] have done really helps us work on our parameterisation for drought. They’ve provided us with tailor-made tools that we can use at a national level with the technology we have available already.” The session concluded that, by combining technical expertise, financial tools, insurance, and collaboration with organisations like Global Shield, African countries will be able to identify risks better and then predict the most adequate mitigation measure. #COP29 #ClimateChange #DisasterRiskFinancing #Insurance #Africa #TheGambia #ClimateResilience #adaptability Eva Grace Kavuma Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

Drought and floods present severe risks to rural communities in Malawi, disrupting food and water security, energy resources, and livelihoods. To address these challenges, ARC Ltd. recently joined forces with the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF), the Danish Red Cross in Malawi, the Malawi Red Cross Society, and JBA Risk Management to co-develop an index-based flood insurance product unique to the country. In this partnership, ARC Ltd. is leveraging its extensive experience in climate risk financing and drought insurance across Africa to: ● Ensure effective risk management: Using robust flood models provided by JBA Risk Management, ARC Ltd. will tailor an insurance solution to Malawi’s unique challenges. ● Strengthen disaster readiness: Integrating parametric insurance triggers with community-based early warning systems (EWS) established by the Malawi Red Cross Society and Danish Red Cross will ensure proactive action before disasters strike. ● Drive innovation: Building on lessons from previous pilot flood insurance programmes, this solution will set a benchmark for disaster risk financing in high-risk, low-income regions. The Red Cross entities have established essential community frameworks to enhance early risk identification and mitigation, including a text message EWS and a network of community-based surveillance. EWS teams are actively monitoring flood risks via rain and river gauges. This innovative insurance solution will enable rapid payouts and swift response measures integrated into a comprehensive disaster risk financing framework that links triggers, funding, and digital contingency plans, taking them from national to community level. #DisasterRiskInsurance #ClimateResilience #Floods #InnovativeInsurance #ClimateChange #Malawi #EWS Eva Grace Kavuma Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

ARC Ltd.’s Avinash Ramessur was interviewed on the sidelines of COP29 as part of the Financial Protection Forum’s ‘In the Spotlight’ series, showcasing leaders creating an impact in the disaster risk finance space. “While insurance is central to our work, it cannot cover every disaster,” he said. As the Senior Programme Manager for the Regional Emergency Preparedness and Access to Inclusive Recovery Programme (REPAIR), Ramessur believes it can bridge this gap by integrating insurance with other financial tools to create a more comprehensive solution. “It’s fulfilling to work on a project with such a clear purpose – saving lives and improving resilience,” he explained. This is also why he enjoys working at ARC Ltd., which helps African countries respond to and recover from the escalating impacts of climate change through innovative disaster risk insurance solutions such as REPAIR. “We see REPAIR as a cornerstone in expanding ARC Ltd.’s reach across the continent,” Avinash said. Read the full interview below. #DisasterRiskInsurance #ClimateResilience #ClimateChange #InnovativeInsurance #REPAIR #Africa #COP29 Eva Grace Kavuma Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Eleanor Kigen

With climate-change disasters increasing in both frequency and severity, historical data alone no longer reflects the true scale of today’s risks. This was highlighted in a COP29 panel discussion hosted by the Global Shield against Climate Risks Programme for Regional Risk Pools, where ARC Ltd. CEO, Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu, highlighted an urgent priority: expanding the risk pools strengthens the ability to respond to these growing impacts more effectively.   “When more countries participate, risks are spread across regions, reducing the burden on any one nation. This approach ensures that premiums collected in low-risk areas can help cover claims in disaster-stricken regions, creating collective resilience,” Ndlovu explained.   He added that insurance works best at scale as administrative costs decrease. “There is a minimum cost base associated with having an insurance mechanism; the more countries participating, the lower the premiums for members.”   Diversification across perils is also essential, as climate risks do not affect every region equally or simultaneously. “If there is a drought in a country, it’s unlikely they will submit flood claims, so we can use some of the premiums from the flood policy to lower the risk structurally,” Ndlovu said.   #COP29 #DisasterRiskInsurance #ClimateChange #RiskPools #collaboration #diversification #climateresilience Eva Grace Kavuma Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

During ARC Ltd.’s panel discussion at COP29 yesterday, the speakers stressed that, to scale up insurance solutions across the African continent, there should be countries, donors, humanitarian actors, as well as insurers around the table. This was represented by the panellists in attendance, which included ARC Ltd.’s Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu and Gloria Womitso (the insurers), Bubacar Zaidi Jallow (Deputy Permanent Secretary) from Ministry of Environment Gambia, World Food Programme’s Marc Regnault de la Mothe, the FAO’s Sylvie Wabbes, and UNICEF’s Solomon Thomas (the humanitarian actors), as well as USAID’s Ann Vaughan and Wampie Libon from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands (the donors). Together, they discussed the importance of building on what already works instead of creating competing institutions. ARC Ltd., for example, already has 10 years of local expertise in implementing disaster risk insurance for the most vulnerable countries in Africa and has a holistic view of the risks these countries face as climate change impacts increase in severity and frequency. This includes sovereign risk, where ARC Ltd. is providing macro insurance to member states alongside humanitarian agencies, as well as smallholder farmers specifically, where ARC Ltd. is providing micro and meso insurance. We have also successfully launched the pilot of our anticipatory action solution in Malawi and Zambia. These innovative insurance solutions help ARC Ltd. meet the demands and expectations of the various partners that it works with – including those around the table. #DisasterRiskInsurance #ClimateChange #COP29 #Africa #Humanitarian #Donors #Support #Partnerships Eva Grace Kavuma Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

ARC Ltd. CEO, Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu, has participated in a crucial discussion at #COP29 on the vital role of climate insurance in mitigating risks and building resilience against extreme weather events. The panel, part of World Green Economy Organization (WGEO)'s event on Sustainable Finance, explored innovative insurance models, including parametric solutions, and how to tailor products to the needs of vulnerable communities. Key takeaways included the need for better risk assessment, increased access to insurance, and strong public-private partnerships. #COP29 #WGEO #ClimateAction #DisasterRiskFinancing Eva Grace Kavuma Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

The escalating climate crisis is disproportionately affecting Africa's most marginalised communities, from farmers facing failed harvests to refugees displaced by natural disasters. On 18 November, at COP29, ARC Ltd. will host a panel discussion exploring how the hybrid mutual insurer and its partners drive innovative solutions to protect these people’s livelihoods from the devastating impacts of droughts, floods and Tropical cyclones. Our Head of Humanitarian Insurance, Gloria Womitso, will be moderating the session. A government representative from an ARC Ltd. member state will deliver opening remarks on how inclusive recovery plans are changing lives on the ground. Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu, CEO of ARC Ltd., will outline the organisation's vision to scale its solutions to sectors like education. Sylvie Wabbes, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), will share insights on initiatives for securing food through anticipatory action and financial resilience. Marc Regnault de la Mothe, World Food Programme (WFP), will discuss how their risk-layering approach integrates with ARC Ltd.'s insurance solutions. Solomon Thomas, UNICEF, will highlight financial tools to protect children and youth from climate vulnerabilities. Ann Vaughan, USAID, will showcase impactful investments in scalable climate risk solutions. Lastly, Wampie Libon, Director of Inclusive Green Growth and Arctic Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands, will give the closing remarks, reflecting on the importance of these partnerships and solutions for building long-term resilience in affected populations. #COP29 #ClimateFinance #DisasterRiskInsurance #ResilienceBuilding #FoodSecurity #CARICOM #Africa Eva Grace Kavuma Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

Director of Inclusive Green Growth, Ambassador for Sustainable Development, and Arctic Ambassador at The Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wampie Libon, will participate in the ARC Ltd. #COP29 panel discussing “Innovative Insurance Solutions for the Most Vulnerable Communities in Africa” on 18 November. Libon will present her directorate’s efforts to integrate sustainability into Africa’s development, focusing on critical sectors, including water, energy, and food security, while addressing climate change and resilience for the most vulnerable populations. The panel will reveal how efforts like these are helping improve Africa’s resilience against climate shocks.    Libon brings a wealth of experience in international policy and global climate action to the conversation. Her previous roles include: ● Director of the International Enterprise Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands ● Head of the Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Washington, D.C. ● Deputy Head of Mission of the Netherlands Embassy in Belgium ● European advisor to Prime Ministers Balkenende and Rutte #COP29 #ClimateFinance #DisasterRiskInsurance #sustainability #Africa #AfricanDevelopment #CARICOM Eva Grace Kavuma Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen

The Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources) in The Gambia, Hon. Rohey John Manjang, will deliver the opening remarks at ARC Ltd.’s COP29 panel discussion in the CARICOM Pavillion on 18 November. The session, starting at 11:45, will feature the humanitarian and insurance leaders who are helping build The Gambia’s resilience against climate change disasters. The Minister will share some of the impact ARC Ltd. and the WFP has had through the Replica Programme in The Gambia. Following her welcome, the panel discussion will explore how ARC Ltd. and its partners (including World Food Programme, UNICEF, FAO, USAID, and The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Netherlands) provide rapid aid and funding to the most vulnerable populations across Africa through innovative insurance solutions like the Replica Programme. #COP29 #ClimateFinance #DisasterRiskInsurance #ResilienceBuilding #FoodSecurity #CARICOM #Africa Eva Grace Kavuma Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu Malvern C. Ange Nothando Chitate Anaïs SYMENOUH Yusuf Bodiat Gloria Womitso Avinash Ramessur Eleanor Kigen