African Risk Capacity (ARC)

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group is a Specialized Agency of the African Union established to help African governments improve their capacities to better plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters. Through collaboration and innovative financing, the ARC Group enables countries to strengthen their disaster risk management systems and access rapid and predictable financing when disaster strikes to protect the food security and livelihoods of their vulnerable populations. The ARC Group is composed of two entities: ARC Agency, a Specialized Agency of the African Union, and ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd), the financial affiliate of the Group. ARC Agency is a mechanism that: - Provides capacity building to ARC Member States in preparation for taking out a policy; - Provides general oversight and supervision of the development of capacity building services; - Facilitates the development of country contingency plans and monitors their implementation should a disaster event trigger a payout. ARC Ltd is the financial affiliate of the Group responsible for carrying out commercial insurance functions of risk pooling and risk transfer in accordance with national regulations for parametric weather insurance. Through its capacity building and risk pooling services, ARC’s objective is to strengthen the continent’s Disaster Risk Management systems through innovative solutions that take into account the continent's challenges. By capitalizing on loc