Africa-Press – Angola. The Government of Angola and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, signed this Thursday a partnership agreement to introduce agricultural insurance and protect farmers from damage caused by weather conditions and other shocks.
As a technical assistance, the legal instrument was initialed by the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, and by the vice-president of the IFC, Sérgio Pimenta, who is in Angola for a two-day visit.
The signing of the agreement comes at a time when the country lacks insurance products specifically designed to protect small farmers.
The project will build on the experience of the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), through which IFC has supported the growth of the agricultural/climate insurance market in countries such as Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Nigeria, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, among others.
In the case of Angola, IFC will work with the Agência Angolana de Regulação e Supervisão de Seguros (ARSEG) to help Angolan insurance companies to develop, on the market, insurance products that can meet the specific needs of different categories of Angolan farmers.
This cooperation will lead to IFC technicians making field visits and transmitting the experience of how they have implemented agricultural insurance in several African countries in the aforementioned regions, as an example of success.
Agricultural fields are sometimes vulnerable to changes in weather conditions and catastrophic weather events that cause massive production losses.
Through satellite data and a survey, the IFC, within the framework of this agreement, will support ARSEG in identifying the main risks that farmers face and in assessing the demand for agricultural insurance.
These also plan to implement a financial education and awareness program to help farmers better understand the benefits of agricultural insurance and how it can protect their livelihoods.
Still within the framework of this protocol, IFC will also facilitate the exchange of knowledge to help Angolan insurance providers to learn the best practices of the more developed agro-insurance markets.
In Angola, agriculture is a significant contributor to the economy, accounting for 10 percent of GDP, a figure still considered low if arable land and climate conditions are taken into account.
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