- Nigeria Signs MoU With Africa Risk Capacity
The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Risk Capacity towards addressing the impact of extreme weather events in Nigeria, as well as providing training support for government personnel.
The signing ceremony, which happened at the annual meeting of the African Development Bank, in Busan, Korea, came on the heels of the bank’s President, Akinwumi Adesina’s pledge to support the work of the ARC in the region.
Adesina called for more stakeholders to join the ARC to ensure the availability of insurance against natural disaster risks.
According to a statement, the bank and the ARC have been in partnership since March 2017, strengthening technical collaboration towards enhancing the risk management infrastructure and policy across Africa, and supporting countries in building resilience against climate shock.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, at the event, congratulated the ARC on the approach it was taking towards climate risk financing and management in Africa.
Adeosun stated that Nigeria would work with the agency to address the impact of extreme weather events in the country.
The statement said the journey towards mutual technical collaboration with Nigeria began in July 2015 when the ARC team undertook a scoping mission, which established the need for Nigeria to give greater consideration to the ARC initiative.
According to the statement, Nigeria is a founding member of the ARC, participating in the establishment discussions and the nomination of former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as the chair of the agency’s governing board.
Nigeria subsequently signed the ARC Establishment Agreement on December 4, 2014, thereby formally becoming a member of the institution, the statement said.
The Director-General, ARC, Mohamed Beavogui, expressed his appreciation to the Nigerian government for signing the MoU, noting that the leadership role of Nigeria on the continent and in the establishment of the ARC made the signing of the MoU quite momentous for the work in the region.
