The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved an $ 8.56 million grant from the African Development Fund to implement the Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) Program in Sudan. The project will strengthen the country’s resilience and response to climate shocks by improving climate disaster risk management. The five-year project (2022 to 2026), which will be implemented at a total cost of $ 13.02 million, includes contributions from the Government of Sudan as well as an in-kind contribution from the African Risk Management Capacity .

Through ADRiFi, Sudan will strengthen its capacity to assess climate-related risks and costs and develop subsequent adaptation measures to build resilience and enable rapid response to beneficiaries affected by drought and floods. The African Risk Capacity (ARC) is a specialized agency of the African Union created to help African governments improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters.

The project includes a comprehensive capacity building component, designed to help Sudan quantify and manage the country’s climate risk, improve efficiency, and make informed decisions about transferring risk to market through l insurance, as part of a holistic national risk management strategy. To support Sudan’s participation in the program, the first year insurance premium for the 2021/2022 agricultural season will be funded by resources from the newly established Multi-Donor Trust Fund and the German government.

“We are delighted that ADRiFi Sudan has been approved by our Board of Directors. This adds to the momentum and focus on Sudan since clearing their arrears with the Bank over the past few months, ”said Atsuko Toda, Director of Agricultural Finance and Rural Infrastructure Development Department. of the Bank, following the approval of the Board on July 5, 2021.

In May 2021, the Government of Sudan signed two drought insurance policies with African Risk Capacity for the 2021/22 agricultural season: a crop insurance policy with coverage of $ 4.2 million and a policy of $ 3 million course insurance. Sudan’s participation in ARC’s drought risk pool aligns with the “Triple National Program for Stability and Economic Development (2021-2023)”, which aims to address vulnerabilities to drought risks and economic development. ‘flood. In addition, ARC’s sovereign drought insurance coverage will go a long way in strengthening Sudan’s social protection and disaster risk financing mechanisms.

“The launch of the ADRiFi program in Sudan is another testament to the strong collaboration between the African Development Bank and ARC and echoes the value we place on smart partnerships to address disaster risk on the continent. We commend the leadership of the Government of Sudan for their comprehensive development reform agenda; and reaffirm our commitment to the successful implementation of the program. Said Deputy Secretary General Ibrahima Diong, Managing Director of the ARC Group.

The proposed financing comes immediately after the recent approval of the arrears clearance of $ 413 million on loans owed by the Republic of Sudan to the African Development Bank. Sudan’s arrears clearance was made possible by the contribution of the UK government through bridge funding of £ 148 million through the African Development Fund.

The ADRiFi Multi-Donor Trust Fund was established within the African Development Bank with contributions from the UK and Switzerland. The fund will make resources available to support premium payments by African countries to increase the number of risk pool participants and make African Risk Capacity an effective pan-African initiative.

The Fund’s funds are complemented by the Covid-19 ARC premium subsidy program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), enabling more African countries to manage their exposure to disaster risks.

Contact:

Amba Mpoke-Bigg, Communications and External Relations Department, African Development Bank, email: [email protected]