First idea

The idea of creating the African Centre of Catastrophe Risks (ACCR) emanated from participants in the Casablanca international seminar on insurance and reinsurance of catastrophes in Africa organized in April, 2004 by SCR in association with UNCTAD and the African Insurance Organization (AIO). The participants admited the importance and emergency of the present situation to develop CAT insurance in Africa and recommended in Casablanca, Morocco the creation of an African centre to reflect on possible insurance and reinsurance covers of catastrophes risks. The Centre will be managed by Société Centrale de Réassurance (SCR)

Mr. Ahmed ZINOUN presented last June an outline of this project during AIO General Assembly in Tunis. The General Assembly confirmed the recommendation of Casablanca and conferred the ACCR implementation and development to SCR.

In July 2004, SCR and AIO elaborated statutes and a strategic plan for the Centre.

I. Mission of the Centre
ACCR’s mission is to coordinate activities of public interest to AIO members in order to develop catastrophes insurance and reinsurance covers in Africa as a strategic solution of prevention and protection against these risks. To achieve this mission, the Centre will focus on the following objectives:

A) To assist Authorities and insurance companies including African reinsurance firms to develop insurance products and programs of catastrophes. These programs will be used as instruments of reduction and financing of the economic costs catastrophes generate;

B) To make the African Public aware of the necessity of catastrophes insurance cover for the durable development of their companies. Awareness programs should stimulate the demand for insurance products and accelerate the sector development in the long run;

C) To promote African skills in activities related to the development of catastrophes insurance cover, such as risk modelling, pricing, reglementation and IT;

D) To facilitate inter African partnerships and worldwide cooperation through economic and technical cooperation in management and CAT coverage;

E) To minimize damages caused by catastrophes by promoting research and prevention methods against catastrophes on one hand and by adequate pricing based on the prevention mesures put in place on the other hand.

II. Strategic Objectives To accomplish its mission successfully, the Centre has identified six strategic objectives to guide its actions. The following illustration summarizes these objectives.

1) Collection and distribution of information about risks.These data constitute the raw materials for the quantification of the risk, the elaboration of the countermeasures of mitigation and protection suited before and after catastrophic events as well as insurance programmes design.

2) Skills and know-how empowerment. The Centre will work on developing a solid basis of expertise in insurance and reinsurance cover of CAT risks. It includes legal and statutory components of catastrophes insurance programs, actuarial modelling and assessment, conception and management of CAT insurance covers and particularly the administration and claims settlement, financial and economic planning, and risk transfer.

3) Roundtables and debates.Through the conduction of surveys and continuous researches, the Centre should attempt to identify the problems which inhibit the development of catastrophic insurance risks in Africa and will organize forums and meetings to discuss these issues and provide adequate solutions.

4) Establishment of Partnerships. The centre will aim to establish partnership relations with Authorities and specialized African and international organizations in order to have access to resources and additional skills necessary for the fulfilment of its mission.

5) Training and consulting services to members. By acquiring advanced skills and high level critical resources, the Centre will develop an African approach to conception and management of catastrophes risks insurance and reinsurance coverage systems. It will be able to provide Authorities and re/insurance companies with technical consulting services suitable to solve issues related to the coverage of catastrophic risks.

6) Social Responsibility.To develop a strong partnership between the different African communities and establish permanent links with the various actors dedicated to the management and the reduction of catastrophe risks in Africa, the Centre will coordinate the concerted actions of the industry for the development of projects of general interest which aim to improve the social situation of the vulnerable populations through the reduction of risks and efforts enhancements of rescue methods in the aftermath of catastrophes.

III. Structure and Resources

• The Centre will have a legal statute of a non-profit institution like an association. It will be governed by an Executive Committee supervised by the General Assembly of the OAA. In the short term, the centre will build up a large database of contributing members from the insurance and reinsurance market in Africa and worldwide in order to raise sufficient funds.

The executive committee comprises:
- M. Ahmed ZINOUN,    Managing Director of SCR and ACCR President
- M. Abdelkrim DJAFRI,  Chief Executive Officer of C.A.A.T (Alger) and ACCR Vice   President
- M. Steffen GILBERT, Chief Executive Officer of SANTAM South Africa and AIO President
- M. Roland RASAMOLEY, AIO Secretary General
- M. Ram Kishore JOSHI, President of General Insurance Corporation of India
- M. Mike P. STRYDOM, Managing Director of SASRIA LTD South Africa

• The management structure of the Centre is illustrated in the upper right figure.

• SCR will host the Centre within its premises and will provide all services and resources for its own operations including support and operational systems, etc.

• The centre will develop its own technological platform for the collection, entry, analysis and distribution of risks data, and the development of management systems necessary for catastrophe risks insurance. The use and maintenance of the information systems platform of the Centre will be done by SCR. The figure which follows illustrates the future IT architecture of the centre.

Contact : Centre Africain des Risques Catastrophiques-CARC M. EL HALLA NAJEM E-mail : ENAJEM@scrmaroc.com Tel :     + 212 22 460 407 Fax :    + 212 22 460 460