Nigeria and the rest of Africa could better manage their catastrophic disasters through strategic risk financing and public private sector collaboration.
Ken Aghoghovbia, deputy managing director /COO, Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) made the remark at the Disaster Risk Financing Workshop held Thursday in Abuja, which was jointly organised by the reinsurance giant and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
Aghoghovbia stated that communities around the globe continue to be affected by the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as earthquakes, floods, wildfires, heat waves and droughts, mainly driven by climate change phenomenon. “These events are becoming very difficult to predict, leaving behind extensive losses to property, lives and disruption of business as well as huge economic losses.”
Catastrophe management he noted involves a wide range of coordinated activities with the core objective of swiftly reducing the impact of such events to ensure business continuity.
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He said “This undertaking requires timely access to both financial and technical resources, hence the need to explore innovative ways to guarantee satisfactory disaster management in Nigeria.”
According to him, Africa Re acknowledges that collaboration between the various stakeholders is needed as no single stakeholder can alone achieve the national objectives of disaster management.
“We believe that, as is done in many places, there is room for public- private partnership in coming up with a robust disaster risk financing strategy for Nigeria, which includes insurance solutions.”
He said the workshop will focus on understanding the country’s disaster risk landscape and also exchanging ideas on how through public-private collaboration, insurance can meaningfully complement government efforts.
Aghoghovbia said the recent Los Angeles wildfires which caused economic losses estimated at over $ 250 billion speaks to this threat. Other natural disasters that dominated the global headlines in the last year include the Dubai floods (that saw Dubai City receiving a year’s worth of rainfall in just 24 hours), the Brazil floods (that put an end to its categorization, by many, as a non-cat exposed country) and the Myanmar earthquake (that left over 5,000 injured and 3,300 dead).
“Africa is exposed to its own fair share of natural disasters which include earthquakes, cyclones, droughts and floods. Currently, the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo is undergoing a severe flood crisis with fatalities of at least 33 people, he said.
“While Nigeria is exposed to both natural and man-made disasters, flooding continues to dominate its disaster landscape. In 2024, over 33 states in Nigeria reported flooding incidents with displacement of over 700,000 people and destruction of several properties and farmlands.”
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According to him, the devastating floods, especially in Borno and Kogi states, were mainly caused by heavy rains which necessitated the release of Alau and Kagbo dams respectively.
In 2022 alone, catastrophic floods affected over 30 states, resulting in more than 600 fatalities, displaced approximately 1.3 million people, and generated economic losses estimated at $ 9.6 billion.
It should be noted that the 2022 floods happened even before the country recovered from the 2020 Gombe and Jigawa floods.
“These recurring disasters underscore the critical need to shift from reactive approaches to proactive disaster risk financing mechanisms that can ensure swift recovery and business continuity in the aftermath of disasters.”
The African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) is the leading pan-African reinsurance company and the largest reinsurer in Africa in terms of net reinsurance written premiums. Established in 1976 by 36 African states following a recommendation of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa Reinsurance Corporation works to develop the insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa through increased underwriting and retention capacities, supporting the continent’s economic development.
Ranked among the top global reinsurance groups, Africa Re has a diverse shareholding structure comprising 42 African member States (34.63 percent), the African Development Bank (8.38 percent), 114 African insurance and reinsurance companies (34.94 percent), and 3 non-regional shareholders (23.05 percent), including leading global insurers and reinsurers from France (AXA), Canada (FAIRFAX), and Germany (ALLIANZ SE).
