Flood risk cover for Lagos State in Nigeria

As a consequence of Climate change, flood risk is increasing in Lagos State, the main driver of economic growth in Nigeria, leading to major damage to buildings, houses, and critical infrastructure and leaving families displaced. The majority of Lagos State’s population is settled in flood-prone areas, thus being put at increasing risk. With the aim to provide protection to the affected people and SMEs, the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF) is co-funding the development and implementation of a new sub-sovereign index-based insurance solution promoted by a project consortium formed by members of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) in close cooperation with Lagos State government.

To improve the resilience of the currently uninsured and vulnerable population of Lagos State to flood events, a new project consortium is formed by the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) to promote the development of a sub-sovereign insurance solution. Today, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management (FS), managing the ISF, signed a grant funding agreement with the project consortium partners. This marks a public-private partnership project under the Tripartite Agreement between the German government, IDF and UNDP to support risk-management solutions for climate-vulnerable countries.

In cooperation with the Office of Governor of Lagos State, the Ministry of Finance, and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the project will be co-led by AXA Climate and Swiss Re, and further includes the local insurer AXA Mansard, African Risk Capacity Ltd. (ARC Ltd.), JBA Risk Management (JBA) and ICEYE. Complementary activities will be provided by UNDP Nigeria, UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility and African Risk Capacity Agency. Depending on the State’s decision on the strategy to be developed within the ISF project, Lagos State populations affected by flood will benefit either directly or indirectly from the insurance solution by receiving emergency relief like cash payouts, food, and aid.

Picture source: CNN