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The CCRIF Board and CEO share lens time with Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, Cayman Islands Premier, and Minister of Finance
and Economic Development, Education, District Administration & Lands and Cabinet Office at the launch of the Ivan+20 Initiative in
Grand Cayman – March 13, 2024. Back row L-R: Mr. Timothy Antoine (Chairman), Mrs. Saundra Bailey (Deputy Chairperson),
Ms. Deneice Yarde, Mr. Michael Gayle, and Mrs. Mariame McIntosh-Robinson (Board Members), Mr. Isaac Anthony (Chief Executive
Officer). Front row L-R: Hon. Premier O’Connor-Connolly, Mr. Aidan Harrigan (Board Member)
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CCRIF SPC limits the financial impact of natural hazard events to
Caribbean and Central American governments by quickly providing
short-term liquidity when a policy is triggered. CCRIF offers parametric
insurance policies for tropical cyclones, earthquakes, excess rainfall, and
the fisheries and electric utility sectors.
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CCRIF operates as a development insurance company - as the goods and services we
provide are designed to enhance the overall developmental prospects of our members.
The Facility is a working example of a disaster risk financing instrument and one of a suite
of disaster risk financing instruments available to governments to assist in post-disaster
recovery, to help close the protection gap and ensure that we "leave no one behind".
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CCRIF:
- Is the world's first multi-country, multi-peril risk pool based on parametric insurance
- Provides parametric catastrophe insurance for Caribbean and Central American
governments; and now for electric utility companies
- Provides quick liquidity following a natural disaster helping to close the liquidity gap
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Since its inception in 2007, CCRIF has made 64 payouts totalling US$268 million to 16
of its member governments on their tropical cyclone (TC), earthquake (EQ) and/or
excess rainfall (XSR) policies – all within 14 days of the event.
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Governments have used CCRIF payouts for a variety of purposes, including immediate
recovery and repair activities; providing food, water and shelter to affected persons;
stabilizing public facilities such as water treatment plants; making long-term improvements
to critical infrastructure such as roads, drains and bridges; mitigation activities to enhance
resilience against future natural hazards; and to “keep the wheels of government turning”,
for example by paying salaries of critical government personnel. For example, 62% of all
payouts have been used partially or wholly for immediate post-event activities; 14% have
been used for long-term infrastructure work; 6% have been used for both risk mitigation
activities and assistance to economic sectors – in this case agriculture; and 3% have been
allocated to establish a national recovery fund.
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We need to be mindful that CCRIF was not designed to cover all losses
on the ground – but rather to allow governments to reduce their
budget volatility and to guarantee sufficient capital for emergency
relief. CCRIF therefore acts as a vast security blanket for its members
which are vulnerable to the increasing severity and frequency of
climate and weather-related perils, as well as seismic hazards.
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The truth is what we do at CCRIF is about supporting governments to help their
populations – communities, businesses and key sectors such as education,
agriculture, and tourism. A rough assessment of the beneficiaries of CCRIF’s
payouts show that over 3.5 million persons in the Caribbean and Central America
have benefitted directly and indirectly from these payouts after a natural
disaster.
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CCRIF currently has 26 members:
- 19 Caribbean governments – Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados,
Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti,
Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sint Maarten, St. Vincent & the
Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands
- 4 Central American governments – Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
- 3 Caribbean electric utility company - ANGLEC, GRENLEC, LUCELEC
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We are particularly proud of our fisheries product – COAST – which was launched in 2019
and is currently offered to Saint Lucia and Grenada. COAST is a partnership between
the US Department of State, the World Bank, CCRIF and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries
Mechanism (CRFM). While COAST is a sovereign insurance product purchased by
governments, it acts like a microinsurance product for individuals in the fisheries sector,
protecting the livelihoods of fisherfolk, boat captains and crew, fish vendors etc. The policy
is structured to include a mechanism to transfer funds from a payout received by the
Government to pre-identified beneficiaries in the fisheries sector.
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In response to demands by our member governments, we also are in the process of
developing new products – for drought, agriculture, and flooding (run-off).
Today, insurance within the context of disaster risk financing is both relevant and
necessary given the realities we are now faced with, such as climate change.
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CCRIF proposes that disaster preparedness must be a function of:
disaster risk mitigation + ecosystem management + disaster risk
financing + cutting-edge social protection strategies (including
consideration of psychological impacts of future disasters on our
populations).
