Harsh weather hits insurers in Uganda

New Vision (Kampala, Uganda): The harsh weather conditions have started biting into the profitability of insurance companies by making them pay huge claims. "In the first quarter of this year, we have paid claims in excess of a billion shillings, arising out of weather-related calamities, which occurred in the last half of 2007," Azim Therani, the managing director of Goldstar Insurance Company, explained.

During the last half of 2007, there were floods in several districts in eastern Uganda and Kampala suburbs including industrial areas and business centres. Therani added that whereas insurers and reinsurers in the developed world were already addressing the impact of climate change on the industry, nothing was in place for the developing world.

"It is obvious to anyone in Uganda that the extreme weather has caught up with us given the change in the rainy seasons and the severity of rainfall we get these days." He said insurance companies should seek details like the drainage systems for factories and warehouses and provision for storing goods on pallets in areas that are prone to floods such as 6th and 7th streets in Kampala.

Uganda map from CIA World Factbook, Wikimedia Commons