The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group, a specialized agency of the African Union established to help African governments improve their capacities, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly enhance resilience and disaster risk financing initiatives that also impacts the trade and supply chain across the continent.
The purpose of this MoU is to enable joint member states to enhance disaster response and resiliency initiatives using available banking and insurance products suited for localized challenges.
The MoU’s primary intervention is to provide Food Emergency Contingent Financing Facility (FECONTRAF) to joint member countries that participate in African Risk Capacity’s sovereign/macro disaster risk transfer programme, national capacity building and food security policy development.
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Benedict Oramah, a professor and president of Afreximbank, said “This new partnership with the African Risk Capacity Group will ensure we support member countries to be disaster aware, prepared and solutions-oriented. ”
“In collaboration with the ARC, we aim to improve capacity to better plan and respond to natural and man-made disasters that may hamper trade facilitation across the continent and make available the needed support to combat disasters when they strike,” he added.
Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, United Nations assistant secretary-general and group director general of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group, said, “The alignment of purpose between our two institutions for a food-secure and climate-resilient Africa is fundamental to this partnership.”
“By providing holistic solutions we will lessen the negative impacts of natural disasters on lives and livelihoods. Therefore, our collaboration will help strengthen countries’ response systems by promoting the availability, accessibility, and affordability of critical resources for anticipatory climate action.”
