Climate and Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (CDRFI) in Africa
Private Sector Perspectives and Opportunities
A recent report developed with KfW provides a comprehensive view of how climate risk is shaping insurance markets across Africa and where the biggest opportunities and barriers remain.
Based on extensive stakeholder engagement across insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and development partners, the study highlights a central challenge:
The need for climate risk solutions is clear, but scaling them remains difficult.
One striking insight:
In 2023, 94% of climate-related catastrophe losses in Africa were uninsured, underlining the protection gap and the urgency to act.
The report maps the full ecosystem of climate insurance and identifies key bottlenecks:
- Demand remains limited, driven by affordability, awareness, and trust constraints
- Local insurance markets are underutilised, often acting only as intermediaries rather than risk carriers
- Data and modelling capabilities are improving, but still not fully accessible or locally embedded
- Regulatory and structural barriers continue to slow down market development
At the same time, the opportunity is significant.
Climate and disaster risk financing can:
- Protect vulnerable households and businesses
- Strengthen fiscal resilience for governments
- Mobilise private capital for climate adaptation
From our perspective, one point stands out:
The challenge is no longer whether solutions exist but how to build systems that allow them to scale.
This includes stronger integration of local insurance markets, better access to risk modelling, and closer collaboration between public and private actors.
The report was recently presented at the African Climate Insurance Symposium.