Tunisia: Govt to require businesses to acquire Nat CAT cover
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Apr 2019
The government will soon present to Parliament a draft insurance Bill covering natural disasters which, when passed, would oblige businesses for the first time to contribute to a Nat CAT fund, according to finance minister Mohamed Ridha Chalghoum.
He said the law will not include compensation for damage to the agricultural sector. There are other mechanisms by which the state intervenes to compensate for the damage of the agricultural sector, such as through the Natural Plagues Fund, reported Digital Tunisia.
Several calls have been made for disaster insurance to be made mandatory.
The executive director of the Tunisian Federation of Insurance Companies (FTUSA) Kamel Chibani, renewed calls for the establishment of a legal framework for compulsory insurance against the risks of natural disasters in Tunisia, following devastating floods in the Nabeul area in north-eastern Tunisia last year.
Last October, minister of local affairs and environment Riadh Mouakher said economic losses caused by natural disasters in Tunisia could reach $138m a year.
Mr Mouakher said floods are responsible for more than 60% of economic losses by causing extensive infrastructure damages and a significant death toll.
Floods are followed by drought in terms of the scale of damages and economic losses in Tunisia, he said. M