African Risk Capacity Limited awarded top ESG score in the insurance industry
JOHANNESBURG, 16 JANUARY 2023 – African Risk Capacity (ARC) Limited has received the global insurance industry’s top overall environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores. Conducted by Sustainalytics, a leading ESG research, ratings and data firm, the evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of an organisation’s preparedness to meet future risks and opportunities linked to ESG factors, such as climate change, regulatory risk and reputational issues, on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 indicating the lowest risk. ARC Ltd.’s ESG score was calculated following an independent audit of the company’s business practices and policies. Improving from low risk last year at 10.2 to negligible risk this year at 5.7, Africa’s premier institution for disaster financing edges up two positions to claim top spot in the global insurance sector ESG risk rating. ARC Ltd.’s ESG risk rating is now the lowest among its global peers. ARC Ltd. also retained its leadership position in the Diversified Insurance sector this year, with the lowest exposure among its peers (24.0) and strongest management score (80.3) in terms of how well it manages its ESG programmes, practices and policies. In particular, ARC Ltd. scored negligible risk ratings in terms of Data Privacy and Security, Corporate Governance, Human Capital, Business Ethics and ESG Integration. ARC Ltd. Chief Operations Officer Ange Chitate says the organisation’s top ESG score in the insurance industry is reflective of the leadership role it plays in helping to mitigate and manage the impact of climate change on the African continent. “This independent validation of our commitment to sound ESG practices within the business bolsters our vision to cover the continent’s most vulnerable communities facing the vagaries of climate change events. We achieve this through partnerships with like-minded organisations that share our vision and commitment to sustainable ESG practices,” says Chitate. As a leader in ESG among stakeholders in Africa’s insurance sector, ARC Ltd. is a signatory and driver of the Nairobi Declaration, aimed at committing the continent’s insurers to better integrate ESG into their business models, in alignment with the goals envisioned by the Net- Zero Insurance Alliance. “We are determined to play an active role in promoting the economic, social and environmental sustainability that has become so crucial in the world today. All stakeholders within the African insurance industry – from risk managers to insurers and investors – have a critical part to play in promoting sustainable development on the continent,” says ARC Ltd. CEO Lesley Ndlovu. “We encourage others in the industry to take the initial step of becoming a signatory of the Nairobi Declaration, but also advise that it represents just the first footfall on a path towards numerous different activities and accommodations like those illustrated in our independent ESG risk assessment by Sustainalytics. We can all play our part,” Ndlovu concludes.
CASE STUDY: 2022 IMPACT
A year of impact & value – a record US$60m in payouts 2022 was the year in which ARC Ltd. intentionally set out to demonstrate value, impact and meaning on the African continent. Already in Q1, our mission to be impactful was evident with the highest payout in our history – $10.7m to the Madagascar Government, following the devastation of Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall on 5 February. It claimed the lives of 121 people and displaced more than 61 500. The rapid payout ensured an early response, supporting the government’s emergency relief and recovery efforts in the country. Additionally, Madagascar had been impacted by food and water shortages and water-borne diseases. By the end of 2022, we had succeeded in our intention with a record disbursement of $60m for 14 payouts – the highest amount we have ever paid out in a single year. The 2022 payouts went to: Since its inception in 2014, ARC Ltd. has paid out a total of $125m in claims from eight risk pools. Currently, we cover more than 18 million people in Africa and although the need is far greater, our mission, to reiterate, is to cover 200 million by 2025. This significant impact of 2022 will now also be extended in 2023 due to the addition of two new perils – flood risk and outbreaks and epidemics. Delivering value We measure our impact by evaluating how effectively we have served the needs of vulnerable populations in our member states. ARC Ltd.’s gross payouts are derived from actual rainfall estimates from the beginning of the season to the latest dekadal (10-day) precipitation observed. We apply previously observed rainfall data from 2001, which is then used to create estimates of drought response costs and payouts. We also aim to strengthen the commercial capacity of insurance markets in Africa through our micro/meso product.
CASE STUDY: OUTBREAKS AND EPIDEMICS
According to healthcare experts, Africa has one of the weakest health systems in the world, making it prone to epidemics and outbreaks. This was evident in the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, where healthcare systems were overwhelmed, and in which more than 11 000 people died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The World Bank estimated that the economic impact on the three countries amounted to as much as $2.8 billion. The epidemic revealed that slow and unpredictable funding was a significant factor affecting the ability of the countries to roll out a rapid response at the beginning of the outbreak. ARC’s lead advisor for Outbreak & Epidemics, Robert Kwame Agyarko, stated publicly: “Had Ebola been identified and the response begun two months earlier, the total number of deaths could have been reduced by 80%”. An outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the same year resulted in 2 200 deaths, and while in this instance, the response was much better, there were nevertheless significant social, political, security and economic consequences. A continent at risk In addition to Ebola, Africa is at risk of meningitis, Marburg virus disease and Lassa fever. Meningitis occurs across an area in sub-Saharan called the meningitis belt – from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east – comprising 26 countries with an estimated population of 300 million. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, this region experiences significant epidemics every 5 to 12 years, reaching 1 000 cases per population of 100 000. Marburg virus disease, similar to Ebola, has a fatality rate of about 50%, according to the World Health Organisation, and an outbreak also heavily impacts healthcare systems and the socioeconomics of affected countries. Lassa fever is endemic to some West African countries with an at-risk population estimated as high as 59 million, with 3 million people in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria falling ill annually and a mortality rate of 67 000. A 2022 scientific study by Scripps Research and the University of Brussels found that climate change and other environmental factors will lead to fever spreading to the central and eastern parts of Africa in the next 50 years, with the result that the number of people at risk would increase by 600%. Ebola highlighted the critical need in Africa to insure against outbreaks and epidemics, and, amid the epidemic in 2015, African finance ministers approached ARC to develop a product that would meet this need and ensure rapid financing to help countries contain high-impact outbreaks, as well as complement the efforts of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The pilot phase In September 2017, ARC launched a pilot of its outbreaks and epidemics parametric insurance product, which would release payouts on detection of an outbreak. This would assist governments with relief funding to contain the spread, as well as deploy medical intervention without having to rely on traditional aid, which would take much longer. Early response has been documented to save more lives and prevent a worse crisis. The product focused on severe diseases, including Ebola, Marburg virus disease and meningitis, and was to be piloted in Guinea and Uganda due to previous epidemics there. To minimise ARC’s risk exposure, an entire epidemic could not be covered, however, the cost of government response would be covered. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, ARC was poised to launch the outbreaks and epidemics product to market but was forced to hold off. A first for Africa In 2022, the ARC Group and its partners were able to finalise the development of this product that would provide parametric insurance to member states for high-impact epidemic risks. Four diseases were chosen with proven, high human and economic costs: Ebola, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever and meningitis. The product will help reduce mortality, the costs of outbreak response; the indirect costs of illness (household expenditures, lost productivity); and secondary impacts on the economy (disrupted markets, lost investment, etc.). This new peril added to ARC Ltd.’s natural disaster products is ground-breaking on the African continent, and in December, the first Outbreak and Epidemics insurance policy was issued to the government of Senegal. The maximum protection provided is US$5m. The parametric insurance product is supported by a capacity-building programme around epidemic preparedness, contingency planning for a swift and effective response, and outbreak risk modelling from simulated outbreaks. A rapid payout will be released in the event of an outbreak of a pre-determined magnitude. Recent history has shown that the threat of unforeseen diseases, epidemics and pandemics is ever-present and always catastrophic. With Senegal leading the charge in West Africa, it is hoped that other countries will follow suit and ARC Ltd. will continue engaging with member states in this regard. Structure of the O&E project: • Simple transparent trigger based on case numbers reported from creditable sources; Low case numbers trigger(s) to ensure early intervention with early pay out; • Three-year cover based on outbreak response cost needs of the country in question; • Cat bond is issued by ARC (sponsor) to reinsurers, capital markets and donors (investors) for a premium plus coupons; • Payout is equal to debt issue amount (principal) • Losses occurring during basis of cover: Events occurring in coverage period; • Single payout per cat bond tranche: each tranche pays 100% of pay out in contact when triggered: • If trigger event occurs and the cat bond pays out, the debt is forgiven; • Tranches of coverage per country staked at different probability of trigger thresholds. • Total payout cap is considered for now, corresponding to single event peak exposure but covering all four pathogens. Variation to this structure can be introduced.
CASE STUDY: FLOOD RISK IN NIGERIA
Droughts and floods have had the most significant humanitarian impact in Africa in recent decades. According to the World Meteorological Association, drought-related hazards in the last 50 years have left half a million people dead and resulted in economic losses amounting to $70 billion. Over 1 000 flood-related disasters claimed more than 20 000 lives during this period. Contributing factors to flood risk are climate change, rapid urbanisation, poor urban development and infrastructure, and overpopulation. As the impacts of climate change accelerate in frequency and severity, on a continent that has contributed the least to CO2 emissions, the need to protect the most vulnerable has never been greater. This is where insurance against natural disasters has an important role to play, however, in Africa, the uptake has been much too slow – only 3% of losses caused by natural disasters have coverage. Additionally, only 13 countries out of 54 have become signed up for the ARC Treaty and become member states. Since its inception in 2014, ARC Ltd. has offered parametric insurance to member states in Africa for drought and tropical cyclones. However, product innovation and diversification have become critical to expanding insurance coverage on the continent and attaining the company’s goal of 200 million people annually by 2025. Diversifying will help ARC Ltd. address individual countries’ climate financing and mitigation needs. To this end, the company has been working with several African governments to run pilot projects for additional products, such as flood risk. A new flood risk insurance product Some member states have national and regional flood early-warning systems, but economic loss estimation to underpin a sovereign insurance scheme is lacking. To address this, ARC partnered with JBA Risk Management to devise a probability approach that would support a customisable parametric flood insurance product. Pilots were run in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, The Gambia and Togo, while Malawi is currently piloting the flood risk product, and providing historical data and patterns, enabling ARC Ltd. to customise the risk model for the country. Having such a model will assist the Malawian government in making informed decisions about flood risks and identifying flood-prone districts where disaster coverage is needed. In November 2022, a technical advisory committee of senior flood experts from global institutions assessed the ARC flood risk model. It acknowledged that despite the level of difficulty, it was “reasonably robust and efficient in terms of describing the risks associated with flood events”. The ARC flood risk model was deemed ready for underwriting flood insurance policies, and ARC Ltd. earmarked early 2023 for the launch. Flood risk cover for Lagos State, Nigeria For Lagos State, floods continue to be a growing disaster risk due to several factors, including climate change and urbanisation. This has led to ecosystem depletion, pollution, inadequate drainage systems and the prevalence of poor and vulnerable communities. In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the frequency of such events – 7.7 million people were affected, and assets worth over $9.5 billion were destroyed in 2012. Following heavy rain that began in early August 2022, Lagos State experienced flash floods and infrastructure collapse. A month later, floods across Nigeria were said to be the worst in a decade. Impacting 34 of 36 states, including Lagos State, the floods claimed more than 600 lives, and 1.4 million people were displaced. Compounding the socio-economic devastation of the loss of lives and livelihoods, the risk to food security when agricultural land is destroyed, and the damage to roads, property and infrastructure, is the fact that flood risk insurance does not play a significant mitigating role. Only multinational corporations, companies, and a few real estate owners have been signing up for coverage. This led to the launch of a sub-sovereign risk transfer scheme for Lagos State in November 2022. Intended to reach 8.5 million people by 2025, the €1.6 million project centres around a parametric insurance solution to be incorporated into Lagos State’s flood-risk-management framework. ARC Ltd. is among the strategic partners in this project led by the Insurance Development Forum, AXA Climate and Swiss Re and supported by the United Nations Development Programme. Other partners are AXA Mansard, the Nigerian entity of the AXA Group, Finnish microsatellite manufacturer and flood data provider, ICEYE, and JBA Risk Management, who are flood data specialists. The project seeks to compile and analyse flood risk data to create a customised insurance product, enable the mapping of vulnerability zones and help improve contingency planning and resilience in Lagos State. In the event of a flood, the parametric solution will pay out a pre-determined amount depending on the magnitude of the flood. As the policy provider, ARC Ltd.’s role will be to disburse these funds to the Lagos Ministry of Finance. Such payouts are often within days, allowing the government to deploy rapid emergency relief, direct cash transfers to affected households, and begin with infrastructure repairs. The InsuResilience Solutions Fund, funded by the KfW Development Bank on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, is providing the capital for the project, together with IDF insurance industry members.
CASE STUDY: MADAGASCAR
Four disaster climate events in two months Due to its geographical position, Madagascar is one of the African countries hardest hit by the impact of climate change. Cyclones batter the island nation up to four times a year. The beginning of 2022 saw Madagascar decimated by a series of extreme weather events. Tropical Storm Ana in January was rapidly followed by four events in February: Cyclone Batsirai, Tropical Storm Cliff around the same time, which was circulating, but thankfully did not make landfall, Tropical Storm Dumako and another, Cyclone Emnati. Sequence of events Ana made landfall on 22 January near the south-eastern city of Mananjary, 530km from the capital Antananarivo, leaving 55 people dead and displacing more than 70,000. Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, which made landfall on 5 February, was one of the worst cyclones to hit the country in 30 years. It left 121 people dead and more than 61,500 displaced – including 37,500 children – in central and southern Madagascar. Just 10 days later, Tropical Storm Dumako arrived, leaving another 14 people dead and displacing about 3,000. Cyclone Emnati arrived on the south-eastern side of Madagascar, where Batsirai had been just three weeks earlier. Thousands of people were evacuated, but luckily the cyclone did not cause any casualties or damage. Counting the cost The devastation of these cyclones and storms was immense. Over and above the many lives lost, the floods and winds destroyed buildings and infrastructure, and villages and towns were cut off – some were left without electricity or water supply. Many houses, because they are built of earth, were turned into mud during the flooding, often collapsing on people. Social services, such as schools and clinics, were severely damaged or destroyed. Coming to Madagascar’s aid Shortly after Tropical Cyclone Batsirai, ARC Ltd. made a payout of USD 10,7 million to enable the country to start rebuilding. Madagascar was the first African country to take up ARC Ltd.’s sovereign parametric cyclone insurance protection, which was launched in 2020. It took out a policy for a premium of USD 2 million, fully co-financed by KfW/BMZ Development Bank and ADRiFi multi-donor trust fund (MDTF), with an aggregate coverage limit of USD 11,7 million. Barriers to rebuilding Natural disasters, such as cyclones and drought, put the country continually on the back foot. This leaves its government unable to rebuild properly, depletes its coffers, causes food insecurity and exacerbates poverty. The southern part has been experiencing the worst drought in decades and its 30 million people are facing famine. Drought cover Madagascar had previously taken out ARC Ltd. drought insurance, 100% financed by the African Development Bank in 2019/2020. The country received a USD 2,13 million payout in July 2020 to cover anticipated losses to livelihoods due to crop failure in the previous season. A total of 600,000 affected people were helped, and bankruptcy among farmers was prevented. Early interventions of this parametric insurance include unconditional cash transfer and cash-for-work for 15,000 vulnerable households, nutritional support for 2,000 children under five years, and water supply for 84,000 households. Total ARC Ltd. payouts At the end of April 2022, ARC Ltd. had paid out USD 797,049 to Madagascar. The drought season is ongoing but on 10 April 2022 a guaranteed payout of USD 0,76 million to Madagascar was confirmed. Madagascar is an early adopter of parametric insurance, recognising that this coverage allows it to respond swiftly on the ground, save lives and have the means to rebuild.
CASE STUDY: MALI
The last 10 years in Mali have been characterised by conflict and political insecurity. The country has been rocked by three military coups during this time and human rights violations have increased at the hands of armed Islamist groups and Mali’s own security forces. The violence and conflict have led to 400,000 people being displaced, the highest in its recent history. More than half are women and 65% are younger than 18, according to Swiss NGO CARE, which works in Mali. It has called Mali “one of the world’s biggest forgotten crises”, where people have had to become used to a life of fear and uncertainty. Economic fallout The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that as many as 78% of Malians are poor, the majority living in the highly populated areas of the south. Around three-fifths of the population are rural. The Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the socio-political crisis and plummeting agricultural production, forced the economy into a recession in 2020. Drought and food insecurity Mali is an agricultural economy – both subsistence and commercial. Most of the working population is involved in subsistence farming but climate change has caused frequent drought and flooding. Cereal production has decreased, while the lack of pastures and water for livestock has forced some farmers to sell their animals and give up their livelihoods. Around 1,9 million people are at risk of severe food insecurity. Mainly in the regions of Kayes, Gao, Mopti, Segou and Timbuktu, malnutrition is evident and affects 30,4% of children under five, leading to stunted growth1 . Meanwhile, Mali’s population continues to grow rapidly (in 2018 the fertility rate was 5,88 children per woman, according to the World Bank). A climate insurance policy Since 2017, the WFP has supported a climate insurance policy for Mali to help fund an early emergency response to disaster. It also promotes resilience and provides financial protection to vulnerable populations when perils, such as Mali’s drought, occur. The ARC Replica programme complements and supports the efforts of the government in Mali to fight food insecurity and malnutrition. The government strategy is to provide half rations to populations in food crisis situations. However, the ARC Replica programme requires the government and partners, such as the WFP, to develop a contingency plan outlining how insurance payouts will be used. The payout benefits With the climate insurance payout, the WFP can provide early food assistance through cash transfers to 161,000 women, men and children affected by climate shocks. More than 20,000 children aged six to 23 months, and pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, will receive nutritional support and services. To help boost communities’ resilience to climate shocks, 23,000 people will benefit from community programmes. These include the building of pastoral wells, water towers and fishponds to help diversify production and sources of livelihoods and reduce the impact of future droughts. For every USD 1 paid out, there is also a USD 2 impact on the economy. Total ARC Ltd. payouts In March 2022, drought-stricken Mali received its first-ever ARC Ltd. climate risk insurance payout totalling USD 7,1 million, paid over to the WFP. This means that more than 204,000 vulnerable people will benefit.
CASE STUDY: MAURITANIA
Crippled by compounded factors Mauritania, a lower-middle-income country in north-west Africa, is buckling under food insecurity. It is situated in the Sahel region – a semi-arid region of Africa bordered by the Sahara Desert – as are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger. Mauritania has been grappling with the economic impact of Covid-19, displacement caused by extremist groups, and drought. Since September 2021, the country has also accepted more than 76,000 refugees, mainly Malians, who are being sheltered in the south-eastern region. The majority of the poor in Mauritania (74%) live in rural areas. Around 9,8% of Mauritania’s children suffer from malnutrition and, according to USAID, more than 660,000 people are expected to face crisis levels – or worse – of food insecurity during 2022. This is close to a 40% increase compared to 2021, and the highest level of food insecurity in Mauritania since 2012. An unprecedented humanitarian crisis is looming. Drought and environment Mauritania relies on agriculture to survive; with many smallholder farmers depending on seasonal workers, the bulk of whom are women. Last year Mauritania experienced below average and poorly distributed rainfall during what was supposed to be the rainy season. This resulted in below-average harvest and pasture production. The prolonged drought has seen a further destruction of harvests, livestock starving to death and a shortage of land for grazing. A knock-on effect of the drought has been soaring food prices. Compounding the hardship in the country are environmental issues such as desertification, deforestation, bush fires and ecosystems being degraded. Planning ahead The crisis in Mauritania underlines the importance of insurance instruments, which make funds and resources available for recovery efforts after a disaster. The government understands this, as well as the need to plan ahead and build resilience. To this end, it signed up for an ARC-Replica policy, through which it partners with the World Food Programme (WFP). This policy helps the Mauritanian government to boost its capacity to anticipate, prepare and respond to natural disasters caused by extreme weather events and extend its climate insurance coverage to reach more of its vulnerable citizens. ARC Ltd. payouts The low rainfall in June to November 2021 prompted a USD 1,14 million payout from ARC Ltd. to the WFP for the provision of food assistance in Mauritania. As a result, the country is able to rebuild and recover sooner, rather than later. This is not ARC Ltd.’s first payout to Mauritania for a drought-related crisis. More than USD 8 million in insurance payouts were disbursed previously to reduce the prevalence of food insecurity.
CASE STUDY: REPLICA PROGRAMME IN ZIMBABWE
The ARC Replica initiative, which began in mid-2017, increased the engagement of the World Food Programme (WFP) and ARC Ltd, giving WFP the much-needed collaboration of working together. Collaborative opportunities The drought modelling software that is used to underpin ARC’s drought risk insurance policies was born out of WFP’s Vulnerability, Analysis and Mapping Unit. The software has made it possible for ARC to undertake accurate and reliable drought mapping initiatives. Dual relationship WFP shares a harmonious dual relationship with ARC Ltd: as an underwriter for the ARC Replica insurance policies and as a collaborating partner in the ARC Replica programme design and improvement. Some key results of the relationship include the following: • As Replica partners, we take pride in being regarded as equals with ARC’s original clients, the sovereign governments, and the constructive sharing of feedback makes our relationship even stronger; • Quick turnaround times, leading to improvements in policy wording after WFP’s legal team review, in some countries; • Adjustments in the duration of data series for pricing and in the quality of the index. Using the revised data series, ARC Ltd adjusted the risk profile for Mali and Burkina Faso offering them an optimised product; • Improvements to timeliness of issuing policies have been noted. This, however, requires the combined efforts of different stakeholders and has the potential to lead to more policies being signed and eventual timely settlement of premiums. Opportunities for improvement Improvements can be made in the following areas: • Basis risk events – ARC Ltd should explicitly state its policy on basis risks events, highlighting that it would not pay for such events. Having made commercial payments in the past has created some expectations and these need to be handled well; • Rules on Risk Transfer Parameters – lessons can be drawn out of West Africa and Zimbabwe and attending to the following would enhance the relationship with the insured • Lessons out of West Africa – in West Africa, the rules were shared only after the ARV profiles had been customised, leading to dissatisfaction among some sovereigns on the performance of the product and at this stage there was no room to make changes; • Lessons from Zimbabwe – the Zimbabwe case was better handled as the risk transfer parameters were communicated before work on the ARV customisation began. This approach should be encouraged as it lays out the expectations. Written by WFP: Emily Jones, Climate Risk Financing Programme Policy Officer
CASE STUDY: SENEGALESE GOVERNMENT
Replica programme in Senegal supports Ndouff village with food and cash transfers Senegal purchased drought coverage for the season 2018/2019. The total premiums paid amounted to $5.7 million: the government paid $3.1 million whereas the Replica partner paid $2.6 million. By payment of the premiums, more than 500,000 vulnerable people were insured. Upon experiencing drought conditions Senegal qualified for a total payout of $23.1 million which was paid on time. The payouts went towards food, cash transfers and nutritional supplements for children under five years old. Impact The interventions had multiple impacts on the population and contributed towards the attainment of the SDGs: The fruitful and groundbreaking partnership between Start Network and ARC Ltd began in 2018 when Start Network was invited to be part of the ARC Ltd programme as a Replica partner, with the role of replicating insurance policies taken by local governments. Start Network is made up of more than 50 aid agencies across five continents, ranging from large international organisations to national NGOs. Since becoming a Replica partner, alongside the World Food Programme, Start Network has played a key role in this programme, specifically in Senegal, where an insurance product and programme was offered by ARC Ltd to Start Network and the Senegalese government. Through the programme, Start Network has strengthened the relationship between civil society and the sovereign state, building a symbiotic working relationship that grows our joint knowledge and capacity of risk management and macro insurance. The programme has also protected hundreds of thousands of families against the negative impacts of drought year on year. In 2019, Start Network purchased complementary insurance policies in Senegal that released a total of $23.1 million payout that enables Start Network NGO members and the local government to jointly deliver early and proactive lifesaving assistance to Senegalese families in advance of a predicted severe drought. The impacts of the 2020 lean season were then felt even more strongly by the most vulnerable communities in Senegal due to the detrimental impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, but thanks to the assistance distributed ahead of the most critical time, the detrimental effects were mitigated. Throughout the payout process, the implementation phase, and the closeout and reporting thereof, the co-operation between Start Network and ARC Ltd has been productive. The protocols agreed in advance between all three parties (ARC Ltd, Start Network and the Senegalese government) were respected and adhered to, ultimately enabling timely and rapid disbursements of funds and humanitarian actions. A comprehensive programme evaluation is currently ongoing, and results on the efficacy of this process and best practices from Senegal will be shared to be replicated in other ARC countries in years to come. Start Network hopes to remain a key partner of ARC Ltd and sovereign states in the Replica programme as it grows and expands. “As we grow the evidence base for early humanitarian action, we hope to build a strong culture of innovative and effective climate risk management in African countries.” Replica Programme in Senegal: Start Network – Anna Farina, Risk Financing, Operational Lead