ZIMBABWE has ratified the African Risk Capacity (ARC) treaty, which gives participating countries access to an insurance pool for natural disaster risks.
ARC is a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) that offers sovereign disaster risk insurance to regional economies, which has been broadening its interests in Zimbabwe.
Information minister, Monica Mutsvangwa said 35 countries had already ratified the treaty.
The treaty was established to help regional economies improve their response to extreme weather events and natural disasters.
Zimbabwe became an ARC member a decade ago, but had not ratified the treaty.
“The benefits to member countries include participation in the African Risk Capacity Ltd insurance pool, which offers weather risk insurance, access to the Africa Risk View Software, a tool that quantifies and monitors weather-related food security risks in Africa. Ratification of the treaty will, therefore, enable Zimbabwe to fully participate in disaster risk management together with other African countries,” she said in a statement.
A national technical committee comprising ARC officials, aid organisations and government is already in place.
Early this month, teams from the Johannesburg-headquartered ARC were in Bulawayo to sharpen the skills of stakeholders in charge of the programme.
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ARC recently paid out US$1,4 million to Zimbabwe, which sees quick responses to disasters as a vital component of managing intensifying natural calamities.
After assuming membership, Harare, together with the African Development Bank signed the Africa disaster risk financing programme, also known as ADRiFi protocol agreement on capacity building in 2020.
The plan was to fortify its capacity in disaster risk management, according to Clive Mphambela, chief director for communications in the Finance and Economic Development ministry.
Mphambela, who spoke to journalists during a workshop to strengthen the media’s capacity in reporting disaster risks in Bulawayo, said ARC’s current scope of work in Zimbabwe revolved around providing insurance cover for drought and tropical cyclones.
But the two parties were exploring other crucial areas of coverage, possibly informed by the accelerating frequency and severity of disasters.
“Currently, ARC insurance covers drought insurance and tropical cyclone risks,” Mphambela told reporters.
“I am, however, informed that ARC is exploring possibilities of extending the insurance to cover products such as flood outbreaks and other emerging epidemics. An index-based financing facility, the extreme climate facility that aims to finance anticipated magnitude and incidence of extreme climate events is also being developed. It is, indeed, gratifying for us to have participated in and benefited from ARC’s pool during the 2019/20 agricultural season, which resulted in a US$1,4 million payout, complemented by a US$290 000 which was extended to the WFP [World Food Programme] and supported over 180 000 households in highly-vulnerable districts,” he said.
Since then, we have not looked back. We have, in collaboration with partners, been purchasing sovereign policies, complemented by replica policies (from WFP and StartNET along their members).”
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