By Celestine Okorie

The premier reinsurance group in Africa, the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) has announced the disbursement of the sum of US$ 3.3 million to assist stakeholders in the ongoing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the continent. The announcement was made after the approval of the 2019 final accounts of Africa Re by the General Assembly on 26 June 2020.

This assistance will be managed by the Africa Re Foundation, an independent institution, set up to handle the corporate social responsibility projects of the Africa Re Group.

This support will be channeled to various government and private institutions at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic for awareness campaigns, preventive measures, acquisition of medical equipment and personal protective equipment. The disbursement is broken down as follows:

• Cities Hosting Africa Re Offices: US$ 2,000,000 will be allocated to the 8 African cities hosting Africa Re Offices namely, Lagos, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Cairo, Abidjan, Casablanca, Mauritius and Addis Ababa;
• African Insurance Associations: US$ 820,000 will be allocated to the 41 associations of insurers in the 41 member States of Africa Re;
• Africa CDC: US$ 500,000 will be granted to the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, a public health agency of the African Union.

“Staying together with our communities in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is in line with Africa Re’s mission. This is a duty, as well as a matter of pride, to contribute to the risk mitigation of the health crisis and its socio-economic fallout”, said the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the pan-African institution, Dr. Corneille Karekezi while commenting on the initiative.

Despite the obvious negative outlook for the African insurance and reinsurance industry for 2020, Africa Re wishes to strengthen the capacity and capability of Africa’s public health institutions to ensure a quick recovery from the ongoing health crisis.