By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Two new Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) namely, Mr Jurgen Meisch and Mr. Phillip Pettersen, have been appointed to join the Board of Directors of African Risk Capacity Limited (ARC Ltd) to bring independent strategic guidance and oversight to its operations.
The new directors joined a group of other industry experts led by Mr. Abdoulie Janneh and Dr Frannie Leautier who serves as interim Chair and as alternate Chairperson, respectively.
In just over 6 years of operations, the ARC Ltd has made $60m payouts to Governments of Senegal, Mauritania and Malawi following droughts episodes in 2014, 2015 and 2019. These funds have gone towards assisting over 2.1 million people whose livelihoods rely on agriculture, preventing the loss of hard-earned developmental gains in addition to 924,689 livestock. Governments have used ARC Ltd funding to scale up cash transfers, subsidize livestock feeds, replenish depleted food reserves, and distribute emergency food supplies.
Speaking on the appointments, ASG Mohamed Beavogui, the Director-General of ARC Agency said, “We have always been guided by the principle that the quality of our work depends on the capacity of our people. The impressive outcomes we have recorded over the years attest to this principle. We are hopeful that the new Directors will bring a fresh impetus and an uncommon expertise to our operations to serve our Member States even more effectively.”
Expressing confidence in the integrity of the new Directors, the CEO of ARC Ltd, Mr. Lesley Ndlovu, stated, “A common denominator I have seen in ARC is the professionalism of the women and men constituting its Management and staff. The rigorous selection process of the new directors, not just based on their rich professional credentials, but especially on their deep passion for the industry, validates the faith of various stakeholders in our ability to field the right people to deliver desirable outcomes.”
The ARC Ltd is a financial affiliate of the African Risk Capacity (ARC), which is a Specialised Agency of the African Union established to assist member states in tackling the impact of natural disasters on vulnerable people. ARC transfers the burden of weather and other natural disaster risks away from governments, enabling them to build resilience and better plan, prepare, and respond to extreme events.
ARC Ltd is a ground-breaking public-private partnership that focuses on facilitating economic development in Africa and empowering governments to protect their vulnerable populations from the impact of natural disasters through the provision of sovereign insurance. Seeded by the UK’s DFID and Germany’s BMZ through KFW, ARC Ltd is a mutual insurance company that will eventually be wholly owned by African sovereigns.
The appointments of the new Directors terms commenced on 01 May 2020 and will run for a tenure of 3 years.
The Non-Executive Directors:
Jürgen Meisch is the founder and sole shareholder of Achalm Capital GmbH since April 2014 after an active career of more than 30 years in the global financial services industry. For 10 years he was Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Board of the large German insurance group Gothaer (2004-2014) where he was responsible for asset management, financial product, reinsurance and for the group’s international operations.
Prior to Gothaer, Jürgen worked in multiple functions at top-rated, international companies including Morgan Stanley, where he ran the German fixed income business; Cologne Re which was part of Berkshire Hathaway’s reinsurance business, where he was a Board member in charge of asset management, among others. During his corporate career, Jürgen Meisch lived and worked in Munich, New York, London, Frankfurt and Cologne.
Jürgen studied European Business Administration in Reutlingen und London and holds dual degrees.
In April of 2014, Jürgen Meisch started to work as a management consultant through Achalm Capital, holds various directorships, mostly in the international insurance and asset management industries, and also aims to make strategic investments for his firm.
Mr Phillip Pettersen is a professional Board member and a Chartered Director. He currently serves on the Board of Africa Reinsurance Corporation South Africa Ltd, Regis Holdings Limited (listed on the Mauritius Stock Exchange (SEM), International Assurance PCC Limited (Mauritius) and Ivory Holdings (Pty) which includes firstEquity Insurance Group and SATIB to name a few.
Phillip has been in the financial Services for 46 years and worked in South Africa, London, Switzerland and Bermuda. During this period he worked for Alexander Forbes (MD Forbes Re) and was transferred to London as MD of Nelson Hurst Reinsurance (now Lockton’s) and thereafter became the Head of “New Solutions” at Partner Re in Switzerland where he developed his passion for catastrophe bonds, Industrial Loss warranties (ILW’s), Mortgage Indemnity, Credit Default Swap Reinsurance, etc.
This experience was further enhanced working as a Lloyds broker with Benfield Greig’s as part of the ReMetrics Division. In 2006 he moved to Bermuda as MD Towers Perrin Re.
Phillip is a member of South African Institute of Directors (SA) and is a fellow of both the UK Chartered Insurance Institute and the Insurance Institute of South Africa with specialties in reinsurance. He has won various prizes and awards including the “Boleslaw Monic” Reinsurance Prize from the UK CII, among others from the local institute. During his career he has held the titles of Chartered Insurance Practitioner, Chartered Broker and Chartered Risk Manager.
Mr Pettersen is a keen off-roader as well as DOT qualified commercial endorsed RYA “Yachtmaster”. He is also keen diver and holds a PADI open water diver endorsement.
About African Risk Capacity (ARC) ARC consists of ARC Agency and ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd). ARC Agency was established in 2012 as a Specialised Agency of the African Union to help Member States improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to weather-related disasters. ARC Insurance Company Limited (ARC Ltd) is the financial affiliate of ARC Agency. It was established in 2013 to provide insurance to participating sovereigns. It is a mutual insurance facility providing risk transfer services to Member States through risk pooling and access to reinsurance markets; it is owned by Member States with active insurance policies as well as KfW Development Bank and the UK Department of International Development (DfiD), as capital contributors.
With the support of the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, France, The Rockefeller Foundation and the United States, ARC assists AU Member States in reducing the risk of loss and damage caused by extreme weather events affecting Africa’s populations by providing, through sovereign disaster risk insurance, targeted responses to natural disasters in a more timely, cost-effective, objective and transparent manner. ARC is now using its expertise to help tackle some of the other greatest threats faced by the continent, including outbreaks and epidemics.
