July 21, 2006

Dear Financial Sector Colleagues:

In Africa, natural catastrophes such as drought and earthquake wreak severe consequences on individual lives, property, and whole economies. Losses from natural catastrophe are mounting for a number of reasons, including population and asset concentration in exposed areas, global warming, and climate change. Risk mitigation measures can not eliminate all the risks, and the financial sector of developing countries provides few mechanisms for spreading the risks.

The public sector, the insurance and reinsurance industries can play vital roles, and forging partnership among them is important. In this context, The African Center for Catastrophe Risks, The African Insurance Organization, La Société Centrale de Réassurance, and the World Bank are co-organizing a regional conference on Insurance and Reinsurance for Natural Catastrophe Risk in Africa, which will take place November 13-14, 2006 in Casablanca, Morocco. The conference will gather financial policymakers, disaster managers, and insurance supervisors from Africa, as well as domestic and international insurance and reinsurance executives. Participants will discuss the impact of natural disasters in Africa; the roles of the public sector, insurance and reinsurance industries for dealing with these risks; and international experiences with managing catastrophic risks.

We cordially invite you to join the program! To register, or for more information, please contact Ms. Colleen Mascenik at Telephone: +1 202 473 7734, Fax: +1 202 522 7105, or email: ; or Mr. El Halla NAJEM at Telephone: +212 22 46 04 00, +212 22 46 04 76, +212 65 89 59 69, Fax: +212 22 46 04 60, or email: . More information is also online at:

Sincerely,

Ahmed Zinoun / Olivier Mahul
President du Centre Africain des Risques / Senior Insurance Specialist
Catastrophiques (CARC) / Finance and Private Sector Department
World Bank

Topics to be addressed include…

  • Identifying and Assessing Natural Hazards in Africa, analyses of drought and earthquake
  • Innovative Insurance Solutions for Agriculture, examples from Malawi, Ethiopia, India, etc.
  • Public-Private Partnership in the Financing of Catastrophe Risk, examples from Algeria, France, Morocco, Turkey and the Caribbean
  • Catastrophe Reinsurance in Africa, perspectives from the market
  • Promoting Catastrophe Risk Management in Africa, views from leading policymakers

Conference Committee:

Olivier Mahul / Roland Rasamoely / Ahmed Zinoun
Senior Insurance Specialist, / Deputy Secretary General / Chairman of the African Center
Finance and Private Sector Department / African Insurance / For Catastrophe Risks (ACCR)
World Bank / Organisation / Managing Director of La Société Centrale de Réassurance (SCR), Morocco

Conference Coordinators:

El Halla Najem

Centre Africain des Risques Catastrophiques (CARC)

Tour Atlas, Place Zallaqa, B.P. 13 183

Casablanca, Morocco

Telephone: +212 2246 0476

Fax: +212 2246 0460

Email:

Colleen Mascenik

Financial Sector Operations and Policy Department

The World Bank

1818 H Street, NW

Washington, DC 20433

Tel: +1 (202) 473 7734

Fax: +1 (202) 522 7105

Email:

Venue:

The conference will take place in the Business Center of La Société Centrale de Réassurance, located at Tour Atlas, Place Zallaqa, Casablanca, Morocco, Telephone: +212 2246 0400.

Accommodation:

Accommodation is not included in the conference fee, and should be planned by each participant. Several nearby hotels are listed below. To reserve accommodation, kindly contact one of the hotels and provide credit card information to hold the room.

Le Royal Mansour Meridien

27, Avenue L’Arme Royale

Casablanca 21 000

Tel: + 212 22 312 112

Fax: +212 22 314 818

Email:

Hyatt Regency Casablanca

Place de Nations Unies
Casablanca 20 000
Tel: +212 22 431 234
Fax: +212 22 431 334
E-mail

Sheraton Casablanca Hotel and Towers

100, Ave des F.A.R.

Casablanca

Telephone: + 212 22 439 468

Fax: +212 22 439407

Golden Tulip Farah

160, avenue de l’Armée Royale, 20000 Casablanca, Morocco

Tel: +212 22 31 12 12

Fax: +212 22 31 65 14

Gsm: +212 61 07 81 39

Regional Conference on Insurance and Reinsurance

for Natural Catastrophe Risk in Africa

November 13-14, 2006 - Casablanca, Morocco

Registration

To register for this program, kindly send the following information by email or fax to Mr. El Halla NAJEM at or Fax: +212 22 46 04 60.

Mr. / Ms. /Mrs.

First Name : ______

Last Name : ______

Title : ______

Company : ______

Street Address : ______

City, State, ZIP code : ______

Country : ______

Telephone : ______

Fax: ______

Email: ______

Will you pay by:

 Check

Credit Card : Visa MasterCard

Card Number :______

Expiry date : ______

Registration Fee:

The fee for conference participation is US$300.00. This fee applies to conference participation in reception and dinner in the evening on November 13th, all sessions, breakfast, lunch and snacks on November 13th and 14th. It does not include travel or accommodation expenses, which should be planned by each participant.

Payment Process:

Please pay by credit card (Visa or MasterCard) or check (written to “Centre Africain des Risques Catastrophiques, CARC”) and send to:

Mr. El Halla NAJEM

Manager

Centre Africain des Risques Catastrophiques (CARC)

Tour Atlas- Place Zallaqa- BP 13183 Casablanca-Maroc

Telephone: +212 22 46 04 00, +212 22 46 04 76, +212 65 89 59 69

Fax: +212 22 46 04 60

Email:

Or send funds by wire transfer:

Beneficiary: Centre Africain des Risques Catastrophiques (C.A.R.C)

Bank: BMCE Bank - Agence Zerktouni

Account: 011-780-0000 48205 00 05572-60

SWIFT code: BMCEMAMC

Regional Conference on Insurance and Reinsurance for Natural Catastrophe Risk in Africa

Draft Agenda (July 24, 2006)

Sunday November 12, 2006

16.00-18.00Registration of participants

18.00-20.00Welcome cocktail

Monday November 13, 2006

08.00–08.30Registration of participants

08.30-9.0Welcoming remarks

FMSAR: Mustapha BAKKOURY

World Bank: Olivier Mahul

AIO: Roland Rasamoely

SCR: Ahmed Zinoun

9.00-10.15Session 1: Identifying and Assessing Natural Hazards in Africa: Drought

Moderator 1

Speaker 1: Catastrophe risk assessment and risk mapping -

  • Cover Africa’s potential exposures by country and exposure zones,
  • Briefly present catastrophe occurrence patterns, availability of essential data and sources, national/industry level information that should be present, and
  • Cite experiences of other countries that can be of value to Africa.
  • Risk mapping

Speaker 2: Economic and social impact of drought -

  • Review past events and their economic, social and financial costs,
  • Indicate the magnitude of future catastrophes in view of asset and population growth and concentrations
  • Cite experiences of other countries that can be of value to Africa.

10.15-10.45Coffee break

10.45-12.00Session 2: Identifying and Assessing Natural Hazards in Africa: Rapid Onset Disasters

Moderator 2

Speaker 3: Catastrophe risk assessment and risk mapping – Lahcen Ait Brahim

  • Cover Africa’s potential exposures by country and exposure zones,
  • Briefly present catastrophe occurrence patterns, availability of essential data and sources, national/industry level information that should be present,
  • Risk mapping

Speaker 4: Economic and social impact of rapid onset disasters -

  • Review past events and their economic, social and financial costs,
  • Indicate the magnitude of future catastrophes in view of asset and population growth and concentrations
  • Cite experiences of other countries that can be of value to Africa.

12.00-12.30Session 3: Panel on Catastrophe Risk Assessment in Africa

Moderator 3

Panelists: speakers 1 to 4

12.30-14.00Lunch break

14.00-16.00Session 4: Innovative Catastrophe Insurance and Reinsurance Solutions

Moderator 4: Ahmed Zinoun (ACCR et SCR)

Speaker 5:

(40 min. presentation)

  • Discuss appropriate covers for various catastrophe types, the underlying underwriting considerations and data/information required as well as essential risk management guidelines especially in the event of claims;
  • Focus on specific insurances currently available and their relevance/adequacy. (Focus on solutions in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritius, India and South Africa)
  • Do capacity analysis of the direct insurer and reinsurance types that the insurer would require;
  • Discuss usefulness of national and regional pools, etc.; accumulation problems and reserving issues
  • Discuss capacity of African insurers both in terms of capital adequacy and technical competence; outline specialized training programs that could be of value regionally;
  • Discuss catastrophe reinsurance concepts in general
  • Discuss essential information required from direct insurers
  • Discuss internationally available reinsurance covers for risk types occurring in Africa
  • Briefly present reinsurance availability/adequacy in exposed areas, and availability of valuable data to enable realistic evaluation of risk exposures
  • Consider pooling of catastrophe reinsurance risks at market and regional levels

Panelists:

(5 min. presentation each)

AIC India (Drought insurance)Mr Chandrasekaran (GIC)

Axa Re (Drought insurance in Ethiopia)Jean Paul Conoscente

CAAT AlgérieAbdelkrim DJAFRI

Swiss Re (earthquake reinsurance/cat bonds in Mexico)Markus Schmutz

Munich Re

Guy CarpenterMr. Manuel Chirouze

16.00-16.30 Coffee break

16.30 -18.30 Session 5: Public-Private Partnership in the Financing of Catastrophe Risk

Moderator 5: Olivier Mahul (WB)

Speaker 6:

(40 min presentation)

  • Identify potential market failures on the financing of catastrophic risks
  • Discuss the role of the governments to address these market failures

Panelists (5 min presentation each)

TCIPMr Huseyin Yunack (Mille Re)

Algeria PoolCCR?

Morocco programMr. Abed Yacoubi Soussan (MAMDA/MCMA)

Mr Bouazza Rahmoun DAPS

French Cat NatRene Vandamme (CCR)

Mauritius

Spanish nat cat program

19.30-22.00 Diner

Tuesday November 14, 2006

9.00-10.30Session 7. International Cooperation in Managing Natural Disasters

Moderator 7: Roland Rasamoely

Panelists (5 min presentation each)

World BankRodney Lester

European CommissionWillem Olthof

UNCTADNigel Easton

ADB

AFD

10.30-11.00Coffee Break

11.00-12.00Session 8: The Way Forward

Panelists

ACCR et SCRAhmed Zinoun

WBOlivier Mahul

AIORoland Rasamoely

12.00 End of the Conference

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