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Joseph Inokotong, Abuja
African Risk Capacity Insurance Limited (ARC Ltd) has handed over a cheque for FCFA 442,824,819.30 (about US$738,539.88) to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire for rapid assistance to vulnerable population in the central region of the country following severe rainfall deficits in the 2019 agricultural season.
ARC recently announced the payout to the countrywhen the Africa RiskView, its parametric tool, detected that the irregular and insufficient rainfall in the central region will affect food security of an estimated 400,000 people by the end of the season.
Following the announcement, and in line with 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), with clear recommendations on how the payout will be applied.
The government, therefore, 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, the Minister for Economy and Finance, Mr. Adama Coulibaly reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the citizens’ welfare.
He said “The Government of Cote d’Ivoire takes the food security of its populations very seriously. Therefore, His Excellency, President Alassane Ouattara supports the 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. Incidentally, the severe rainfall deficits occurred mainly in the Hambol Valley, Gbeke, and Marahoué regions.
The Director-General of ARC Agency and UN-ASG Mohamed Beavogui, remarked: “Providing Member States with the innovative tools to respond to natural disaster risks in a more timely and predictable manner gratifies our efforts.
“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.”
The CEO of ARC Insurance Limited, Ms. Dolika Banda, in her message expressed the optimism that the payout will deliberately target to benefit women.
Ms. Banda added, “Often, when natural disasters of this nature occur, the lives and livelihoods of women and, especially female-headed households are disproportionately impacted.
