European re/insurance giants to lead flood risk transfer project in Ghana

Global re/insurance giants  Allianz and  Swiss Re, members of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), will lead a risk transfer project to develop a sovereign insurance scheme for urban flooding in Ghana.

The UNDP-led initiative with the Government of Ghana aims to enhance the country’s long-term financial resilience, through strengthening capacity to financially manage risk, the integration of insurance and risk financing into national development strategy and delivery, and the development of insurance markets and inclusive insurance solutions for at-risk populations.

The parametric insurance solution will use a pre-defined trigger as opposed to assessing actual losses to enable quick pay-outs in case of a flood.

The InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF), funded by the KfW Development Bank on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and managed by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, will co-fund the risk transfer project alongside the IDF insurance industry members.

Ababacar Diaw (pictured), acting CEO of  Allianz Ghana, said: “The collaborative development of this parametric insurance solution through a public-private partnership plays into the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is an important contribution to increasing the climate resilience of urban poor and vulnerable people in Accra. Parametric insurance solutions are especially useful in regions where insurance infrastructure, such as good data, is less available.”

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