African Governments and Insurance Regulators Advance Plans for Regional Insurance Risk Pool for Public Assets
Nairobi Forum seeks stronger financial protection for critical infrastructure and public budgets against climate and disaster shocks
NAIROBI, KENYA, 12 September 2026
African governments and insurance regulators are advancing discussions on the establishment of a Regional Insurance Risk Pool for Public Assets and Critical Infrastructure, aimed at strengthening financial protection against climate and disaster risks and enabling governments to recover more quickly when shocks occur.
The proposal will be considered at the Climate and Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance in Africa Forum, bringing together senior government officials and insurance regulators from 19 African countries in Nairobi from 14 to 15 September 2026.
The proposed regional risk pool is intended to provide countries with a coordinated and predictable mechanism for managing the financial risks associated with damage to public assets and critical infrastructure. It would help reduce the fiscal pressures that arise when governments have to finance large-scale reconstruction and recovery from unanticipated disaster events.
The Forum is jointly convened by the National Treasury of Kenya, ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) and the East African Insurance Supervisors Association (EAISA).
The discussions take place against a backdrop of increasing climate related hazards and a persistent gap between policy commitments and the availability of practical financial mechanisms to protect public assets and sustain essential services.
The Forum will therefore seek to advance the integration of Climate and Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (CDRFI) into national and regional development, adaptation and risk management frameworks, while promoting financing arrangements that are pre-arranged, predictable, scalable and capable of responding rapidly when disasters occur.
Public assets, strategic infrastructure and essential services underpin economic activity, livelihoods and development across the continent. Damage to such assets can disrupt businesses and communities, interrupt the delivery of essential services and impose significant unplanned costs on governments.
These costs can divert public resources from other development priorities and further constrain already limited fiscal space.
Participants at the Nairobi Forum are expected to consider a Call to Action for the establishment of the Regional Insurance Risk Pool for Public Assets and Critical Infrastructure. ZEP-RE, as a specialised COMESA institution and regional technical partner, is expected to coordinate and support the design and establishment of the proposed facility.
The initiative builds on the Zanzibar Declaration on the Financial Protection of Critical Public Infrastructure, adopted at the 7th Annual East Africa Insurance Regulators Forum held in Zanzibar on 24 July 2025 and endorsed by insurance regulators from across the COMESA region.
The 8th Annual East Africa Insurance Regulators and ZEP-RE Strategic Forum, being convened alongside the CDRFI Forum, will further provide a platform for strengthening regulatory cooperation, sharing experience and advancing regional approaches to climate and disaster risk financing.
The Nairobi meeting is expected to deepen cooperation among governments, insurance regulators and regional institutions and strengthen countries’ capacity to anticipate, finance and manage the fiscal consequences of climate and disaster risks.
ENDS
About the Climate and Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Forum
The Climate and Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Forum brings together governments, insurance regulators and regional institutions to advance practical approaches to financing climate and disaster risks. The Forum seeks to strengthen country and regional capacity to protect public finances, assets, infrastructure and development gains against shocks.