18 Partnerships between governments, aid agencies and the private sector are pivotal to building climate resilience through mobilising resources, sharing knowledge, and pioneering innovation. While in Africa, the need for protection against natural hazards is greater than ever, the uptake of insurance premiums and affordability remain significant challenges. The ARC Replica programme was designed to speak to these challenges. The innovative risk-financing solution enables collaboration with humanitarian aid entities, such as Start Network, to work alongside member states, by purchasing similar policies, thereby expanding insurance coverage to protect more vulnerable communities. Additionally, in some cases, policies are subsidised by donors for countries that are not able to allocate funds from their own budgets. To date, the Start Network-ARC Replica rollout includes four countries – Senegal, Somalia, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe. “Our partnership has evolved significantly since it began in 2018,” says Amadou Diallo, Start Network Regional Disaster Risk Financing Advisor West, Central Africa, and Madagascar. “It has helped open the channels for collaboration, advocacy, and bilateral cooperation and enabled us to leverage the expertise of our network and offer better support to governments. Initially, we were initially active in one country only, but today, we work in multiple countries.” Diallo notes ARC Ltd.’s diversification from drought into other perils like floods and tropical cyclones. He says this diversified portfolio has increased their protection of 200,000 people to potentially millions. “In 2023, we expanded our activities to Madagascar and purchased our first cyclone policy with the government. We are looking at other existing risks, such as outbreaks and epidemics, which we hope will also be made available to us.” Nelly Maonde, Regional Advisor for East and Southern Africa at Start Network, agrees that the impact of the Replica programme is significant. “Beyond it being a financing instrument for early action, ARC, jointly with their Replica partners, has gone further to support governments to help develop disaster risk financing strategies. Efforts are combined with the aim of building sustainable national systems and integrating disaster risk financing into government fiscal planning and budgeting. By being part of the national budget, governments will not have REP L I CA PARTNER I NTERV I EW: START NETWORK REPLICA PARTNER INTERVIEW: START NETWORK Amadou Diallo Regional Disaster Risk Financing Advisor West, Central Africa, and Madagascar. Nelly Maonde Regional Advisor, East and Southern Africa
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