Rainfall: Why Nigerian Business owners must protect themselves from Disaster – Insurance Experts

Key highlights:

• The agriculture and construction industry is forecasted to feel the most negative impact from 2023 heavy rainfall.
• Business owners are urged to get and maintain insurance packages that help prevent and insure against losses.
• Nigeria’s economy lost more than N4.2 trillion to the 2022 floods which displaced millions.

Nigerian business owners must be proactive and prevent their assets from the destruction caused by rainfall this year as the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET) has predicted heavy rainfall for 2023.

This was disclosed in an interview with an Insurance Executive, Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale, reported by News Agency of Nigeria on Monday night.

Nairametrics reported earlier this year that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), warned Nigerians to expect severe flooding in 2023.

Heavy rain forecasts

Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale stated that  business owners must prepare proactively for eventualities that would trail the weather forecast, he said:

• “NiMET in its forecast published in January stated that 2023 would witness the early onset of rainfall accompanied by flooding.
• “Starting in March, coastal areas in the South-South, particularly Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Rivers, will experience torrential rains.
• “Southern inland cities will experience precipitation in April, while central states will experience heavy rains in May.
• “NIMET also predicted extended rainfall in Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu, Anambra, Ogun, and Lagos states.

Agriculture

The Insurance Executive added that agriculture business investors, business owners, property and asset managers, families and individuals, must proactively take action to mitigate the devastating human and material losses that could arise from the oncoming floods, as agriculture-based states would be affected too, he added:

• “Between June and July, the northern states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, and Borno would experience the beginning of rain, which will be at its peak between July and September.
• “With the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report that Nigeria’s food inflation rate peaked at 24.35 per cent in February, there is an urgent need to prioritise food security.
• “There is also the urgent need to protect the enormous investments already made into agriculture.

Hassan-Odukale added that agriculture contributed 26.97 per cent to GDP in 2022, and was the most vulnerable sector to flood, citing reports from the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, which estimated that agriculture lost about N700 billion to floods in 2022.

Other industries that are also vulnerable includes, construction and property sectors were also vulnerable to flooding in 2023, adding that the 2022 floods resulted in 662 deaths in 33 states and the ruination of agricultural investments and other properties estimated at trillions of naira and also displaced more than two million Nigerians were displaced, while the national economy lost more than N4.2 trillion to the 2022 floods.

Backstory

Recall Nairametrics reported earlier this year that the Nigerian Government, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), warned Nigerians to expect severe flooding in 2023, NEMA warned those living around water channels and flood plains should take precautions.

The Director General of NEMA, Mr Mustapha Ahmed said Nigeria would witness severe flooding this year citing predictions from relevant agencies.

He added there had been seasonal climate predictions and annual flood outlooks by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), adding that the flood disaster in 2022 was a learning experience. NEMA would also spread early warning messages to states, Local Government Areas (LGAs), and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

• “We have started early this year, as we are ready for early warning and early action. We will bombard every citizen, state and local government with this information as we want them to know it is serious. We will not keep quiet. We want them to know that there will be flooding this year.’’

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