The West African Development Bank (BOAD) and the Common Reinsurance Company of the Member States of the Inter-African Insurance Markets Conference (CICA-RE) are taking a new step in consolidating the regional financial architecture. The two institutions signed a strategic partnership agreement on July 7, 2026 in Lomé, aimed at further integrating insurance and reinsurance mechanisms into the financing of development projects within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
The agreement was signed by Abdoulaye Daffé, Vice-President of BOAD, and Karim Diarassouba, General Manager of CICA-RE. It reflects the convergence between the strategic orientations of the Bank, through its “Djoliba… The Suite” plan, and those of the reinsurance company, united in “CICA-RE Ambition 2029”.
Beyond a simple cooperation protocol, the partnership aims to establish a sustainable operational collaboration around the sharing of technical expertise, strengthening of team skills, structuring of insurance solutions adapted to projects financed by BOAD, and the development of innovative risk management and transfer instruments.
This initiative comes at a time when the multiplication of climate, economic, geopolitical, and financial risks requires development institutions to strengthen their investment security mechanisms. Insurance and reinsurance now appear as essential levers to improve project resilience, optimize the balance sheet management of development banks, and increase their intervention capacity.
Speaking on behalf of BOAD President Serge Ekue, Vice-President Abdoulaye Daffé emphasized that this agreement fully aligns with the Bank’s strategy to enhance its risk transfer and sharing mechanisms, particularly within its “Originate to Distribute” approach, which involves structuring financing before sharing risks with other investors and partners.
For his part, Karim Diarassouba considered this cooperation to be “an important step” in the shared ambition of the two institutions to put insurance and reinsurance at the service of development financing. According to him, the combination of BOAD’s financial expertise and CICA-RE’s technical know-how will better secure structuring projects, strengthen the resilience of UEMOA economies, and promote increased mobilization of African risk coverage capacities.
Through this alliance, BOAD and CICA-RE demonstrate their commitment to contribute to the emergence of a more robust regional financial ecosystem capable of supporting the economic transformation of West Africa by reducing investment exposure to uncertainties and strengthening investor confidence.
As the common financial institution of the eight UEMOA member states, BOAD plays a central role in financing infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and projects related to climate transition. On the other hand, CICA-RE, created in 1981 by the CIMA zone states, is one of the main reinsurers on the continent and has a B+/Stable rating from A.M. Best and a AAA (CIMA Zone) rating from GCR, demonstrating its financial strength and strategic role in the development of the African reinsurance market.
