Press Announcement

[Johannesburg, South Africa – 14 March 2023] – The Government of Djibouti has signed the first-ever multi-year, multi-peril agreement on the African continent with the African Risk Capacity Group (ARC Group) to protect the lives and livelihoods of its most climate-vulnerable communities.

The ground-breaking agreement means that the country in the Horn of Africa now has access to five years of disaster risk management capacity building and disaster risk insurance coverage offered by the ARC Group, covering two of its most prevalent hazards – drought and excess precipitation.

ARC Agency, a specialised agency of the African Union, assists African governments to better prepare, plan, and respond to natural disasters, which have increased in frequency and severity due to climate change. ARC Ltd., as its insurance affiliate, provides disaster risk financing mechanisms, such as risk pooling and risk transfer services, to help countries build resilience and recover faster after a disaster.

Says Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, UN-Assistant Secretary General and Director General of the African Risk Capacity Group: “The Government of Djibouti has demonstrated yet again its leadership role in the region in the domain of disaster risk management by reinforcing its planning, preparation and response capacities against natural disasters. We at ARC are extremely proud to stand by Djibouti as we continue to provide demand-driven technical support and holistic solutions to the country and other member states to ensure that they are well-equipped to protect their most vulnerable populations against climate shocks.”

The World Bank and the Global Risk Financing Facility multi-donor fund have provided US$2 million to underwrite the insurance policy. Says Boubacar-Sid Barry, World Bank Resident Representative in Djibouti: “This is a first for Djibouti and underscores the World Bank’s commitment to support efforts that help communities to become more resilient and to adapt to climate change through the use of innovative financial instruments, including insurance.”

Descartes Underwriting partnered with ARC in the past, bringing its expert technical and modelling capabilities, and understanding of risk to ARC’s work on the continent, which led to its involvement in Djibouti. The company utilises advanced data and machine-learning techniques to model underlying phenomena and unlock risk insights that better align with the realities of a shifting climate and risk landscape.

Says Tanguy Touffut, CEO of Descartes Underwriting: “We were elated to contribute our scientific expertise to support a more precise understanding and modelling of the risks in Djibouti, and then to design and support the risk transfer of this customised multi-peril cover. We sent an underwriter to Djibouti as part of our commitment to the project, and to the productive collaboration between
ourselves, ARC, the World Bank and the Government of Djibouti.”

Alessandro Girelli and Charlotte Rougier, both underwriting managers at Descartes, explain that Djibouti is an arid country with no significant, permanent, surface-water source, and the goal of the insurance cover for drought was to cover the pastoral population, who are the most vulnerable to drought. Mainly nomadic herders, living in rural areas, they move according to the rainfall and the availability of fodder. “We custom-designed the index to align with both the rainfall seasons and migration patterns of the pastoral population. The index is also based on soil-moisture deficit and the policy covers the entire country,” Rougier says.

While Djibouti has very low annual precipitation levels, it is also affected by extreme (high intensity over a short period) precipitation events that can cause devastating flash floods, with significant human and economic losses. “The focus of the excess precipitation part of the insurance coverage is on Djibouti-City, which comprises approximately 60% of the population. People living here are particularly vulnerable to extreme rainfall due to population density, the topography of the city and its coastal location,” explains Girelli.

“Descartes is proud to have been involved in this pioneering work, and grateful to Generali Global Corporate & Commercial, which was also part of supporting this achievement. Our role is to revolutionise insurance in the face of climate change and provide cover to those most vulnerable to its impact. This is a space where we want to continue contributing.”

While Djibouti was an original signatory of ARC’s treaty in 2012, according to Executive Secretary for Risks and Disasters Ahmed Mohamed Madar, this agreement now signals the government’s intensified efforts to mitigate the human and financial costs of natural disasters, simultaneously expressing confidence in its ARC membership.

Says ARC Ltd. CEO Lesley Ndlovu: “Not only is this multi-year, multi-peril agreement ground-breaking in Africa, but it’s also the first time we are covering excess precipitation. Being able to build two unique, innovative risk products for Djibouti and being ready to launch in record time has set a precedent that we hope to replicate throughout Africa going forward.”

He is quick to stress, however, that despite the fast turnaround, there is no compromise on delivering services such as contingency planning, the details of which are currently being finalised with the Djibouti government. “Our concomitant services remain critical, as always,” Ndlovu says.

The signing of the agreement comes as the De-Risking, Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies Project (DRIVE) is being launched to protect pastoralists against the effects of climate change in the Horn of Africa (Development Projects : De-risking, inclusion and value enhancement of pastoral economies in the Horn of Africa – P176517). The financing of Djibouti’s multi-year, multi-peril policy is part of the DRIVE
programme.

About Descartes
Offering a new generation of technology-driven corporate insurance, Descartes collaborates with brokers to protect their mid-market and corporate clients against the full spectrum of natural catastrophe and extreme weather exposures. Descartes’ covers are uniquely designed to provide cost-effective and fully transparent products that guarantee liquidity via swift and direct payout. Born out of the conviction that climate change calls for a revolutionary approach to insurance, Descartes Group writes more than $100M in premium across 6 continents and serves more than 250 corporate clients (as at November 2022), with an ambitious growth path ahead. With the support of Highland Capital, Eurazeo, Cathay Innovation, Serena VC, Blackfin Capital Partners, Seaya Ventures and Mundi Ventures, Descartes Group is headquartered in Paris, with 12 international offices located across the UK, Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and Australia.

Descartes was founded in 2018 by a team of insurance veterans and climate scientists under the principle that new technologies can deeply transform the insurance industry, reducing friction and restoring trust in the market. This is particularly pertinent given the rise in exclusionary language used in traditional policy wordings – which has brought unease and frayed trust among Insureds. Comparatively, Descartes’ policies and their straightforward structure provide unveiled transparency for clients in ‘what they see is what they get’. Core to the value proposition of parametric insurance is the ability to increase the certainty between a loss event taking place and a pay-out being made, quickly, accurately and without friction costs.

For more information contact Descartes Underwriting at descartesunderwriting.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Meg Chaperon
Head of Marketing & Communications
meg.chaperon@descartesunderwriting.com
+33 7 49 72 94 9