The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a $6 million grant to support the African Risk Capacity (ARC) in boosting disaster preparedness and risk financing across Africa over the 2025-2026 period.
Approved on October 29, the grant provided through the Bank’s African Disaster Risk Financing Initiative (ADRiFi) will help ARC. It aims to maintain its core capacity-building and disaster risk financing services for the Bank’s regional member countries.
Reactive to Proactive Disaster Management
The project aims to help African governments move from reactive disaster response to proactive preparedness. It will strengthen national institutions’ technical expertise and operational capacities in disaster risk management. This includes evidence-based risk assessment, early warning systems, and training for policymakers and technical experts.
A key component of the project will enhance countries’ ability to plan and allocate resources for emergencies more efficiently. It will also support the development of stronger institutional frameworks. These frameworks will coordinate rapid and effective responses to natural disasters.
The ARC will work to expand country participation in its sovereign insurance risk pool through increased engagement. It will also offer new climate risk insurance products to its member states. Planned activities include high-level advocacy for the ratification of the ARC Treaty and finalization of its work programmes with participating countries. Moreover, it will facilitate insurance premium support.
Implementation will cover all ARC member states, with a focus on regions most exposed to droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, and epidemics. Beneficiaries will include policymakers, technical working groups, and civil servants. They will receive targeted assistance in disaster risk quantification, contingency planning, risk financing, women’s inclusion, and monitoring and evaluation.
