Initially an early adopter in the pilot phase of the World Bank’s Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI), for the past decade the Solomon Islands has been limited in its ability to prioritise disaster risk financing expenditures over other pressing budgetary considerations.

It is hoped that the recent 4-day mission to the nation by PCRIC CEO Mr. Aholotu Palu and Chief Risk Officer, Mr. Richard Poulter will ease the way for this to change over the course of 2025. Undertaking briefings with the Permanent Secretary for Finance, Mr. McKinnie Dentana, Accountant General, Mr. Paula Uluinaceva and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and subsequently with officials from the Central Bank, details were shared of the recently revised and vastly superior product options now available to regional nations including the Solomon Islands.

Able to be scaled and customised to the specific preferences of client governments, policy options currently include coverage for tropical cyclone, earthquake, tsunami and excess rainfall / flooding with a product option of drought soon to be released. Featuring greater transparency and ease of comprehension, plus a focus on the number of people impacted rather than the scale of damage to physical assets, government officials commented on the appeal this revised line-up held for them.

The PCRIC team also provided details on the availability of donor funded subsidies to improve the affordability of policy premiums, putting pre-arranged disaster risk finance solutions in much closer reach of the government.

The mission also created an opportunity to meet with the CEO of the Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company (SISCC), one of the nation’s most critically important state-owned enterprises. The innovative policy development of coverage for earthquake damage to submarine cables was showcased and prompted formal requests for further information to be provided.

With agreement to provide concrete policy options for further consideration ahead of FEMM 25, parties agreed that significant progress has been quickly made toward Solomon Islands becoming the next member nation of PCRIC.