The Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Incorporated (RBRDFI), the research and development arm of the nonprofit Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), has been offering training on microinsurance to local rural banks, of which seven have so far been licensed to offer microinsurance services by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, and the Insurance Commission (IC), which regulates the country’s insurance industry. Continue Reading »

The author, David Satterthwaite, is Oxfam America’s head of micro-insurance and risk management and founder of MicroCapital.org. Despite the current severe drought in East Africa and resultant famine in Somalia, northern Ethiopia has thus far escaped this year’s drought. The region has, however, been devastated by lack of rainfall in the past and Satterthwaite’s program was designed to help local farmers overcome periods of severe drought. His work is featured in a World Food Day half-hour documentary special report from ViewChange and Oxfam: “ViewChange: Africa’s Last Famine,” which is available at the end of this post.

I woke up that day in Addis Ababa. It was a morning that I’ve come to think of as typical there: it was sunny, the air was cool with the smell of wood smoke, and slow-moving donkeys shared the city streets with blue taxis. I had been on the job at Oxfam for about a month. A group of us – a number of my Ethiopian colleagues and I – were scheduled to meet with the CEO of Nyala Insurance to discuss a contract to provide weather insurance to farmers in northern Ethiopia. Continue Reading »

Superintendencia de Seguros Privados (SUSEP), Brazil’s insurance regulator, recently announced that it will release a framework for the regulation of microinsurance by the end of October [1]. Continue Reading »

Thank you to the Munich Re Foundation and the Microinsurance Network for sharing with MicroCapital their interview with Howard Bolnick, Chair of the International Actuarial Association’s (IAI’s) Working Group on Microinsurance, as a lead up to the Seventh International Microinsurance Conference, November 8 – November 10, 2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1. How did you become involved in microinsurance and what is your current role?

I became involved in microinsurance through my active role in the International Actuarial Association (IAA), which represents the actuarial profession in matters of interest to the worldwide profession. Continue Reading »

Protecta, the microinsurance provider of Peru-based microfinance holding company Grupo ACP, reportedly is predicting that it will turn its first annual profit in the year 2012 [1]. Continue Reading »

The Kenyan office of MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of US-based microfinance network Opportunity International, is employing M-Pesa, a mobile money service in Kenya, and FrontlineSMS:Credit, a nonprofit software provider specializing in mobile financial services, to offer microinsurance policies independent of savings and credit groups. Continue Reading »

The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations promoting fair work conditions, is reportedly supporting a pilot microinsurance scheme in the Tarija region of southern Bolivia with unnamed local partners to provide insurance against loss of food crops, life and property. Continue Reading »

LeapFrog Investments, a US-based private equity fund focusing on microinsurance activities, will invest USD 15 million in the Shriram Group, an India-based provider of financial services to low-income individuals, to help the organization expand its offering of microinsurance and savings products for up to 10 million clients. Continue Reading »

Suddanand Healthcare, a nongovernmental organization based in the Indian state of Karnataka, reportedly has developed a healthcare microinsurance system drawing on the existing customer base of local microfinance institutions (MFIs) to offer an “affordable micro-health program to the underserved section of society” [1]. Continue Reading »

Microinsurance Network, a member-based organization that works to advance insurance in poor countries, recently released its report, “Commercial Insurers in Microinsurance,” that examines the incentives and long-term prospects for the involvement of commercial companies in microinsurance [1]. Continue Reading »

Nicole Skibola, of Australian-US firm Apricot Consulting, recently published an article on the website of US-based Forbes magazine, discussing how some insurance companies are “reconfiguring the value chain to create shared social and economic values” through offering microinsurance to underserved consumers [1]. Continue Reading »

Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited (USGI), an India-based joint venture of Japanese insurance company Sompo Japan Insurance and a group of unidentified Indian companies, recently announced that two new microinsurance products, Saral Suraksha Bima and Sampoorna Suraksha, were submitted to regulatory authorities for approval. Continue Reading »

Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited of Pakistan reportedly is partnering with AsiaCare Health and Life Insurance Company, a Pakistani managed care health insurer, to offer “Tameer Sehat O Sukoon”, a health microinsurance product designed for low-income individuals. Continue Reading »

Intermón Oxfam, the Spanish partner of UK-based nonprofit Oxfam International, has partnered with DKV Insurance (DKV), a subsidiary of the Germany-based reinsurance company Munich Re, to provide microinsurance in the Tungurahua region of South Quito, Ecuador. Continue Reading »

The World Economic Forum (WEF), a nonprofit headquartered in Geneva that engages world leaders “to improve the state of the world”, in association with the US-based Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently published a report entitled “Mobile Financial Services Development Report 2011”. Assessing the development of the mobile financial services (MFS) ecosystem in 20 countries, the report identifies several areas which might be addressed to build scale in MFS thus bringing more people into the formal economy. Continue Reading »

Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), an Indian non-banking finance company (NBFC) and member of the BASIX Group, has launched an automated microinsurance processing system in collaboration with Aviva Life Insurance India in a bid to reduce the transaction costs associated with microinsurance enrolment. Continue Reading »

IFMR Trust, an Indian nonprofit organization that promotes access to finance, and Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) International Private Limited, an Indian company that operates educational and healthcare institutions, have recently been accepted into the government of India’s health insurance program targeting families below the poverty line (BPL), known as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). Continue Reading »

Fonkoze, a Haiti-based microfinance institution (MFI), has initiated the claims process for its clients that were affected by recent heavy rains in Haiti. Torrential rains have caused mudslides, flooding and widespread destruction of property in Haiti during June 2011. In response, Fonkoze will be making payments under its catastrophe recovery product, which was launched in January 2011 as a required add-on bought by all Fonkoze clients at the time of their loan disbursement. Clients who have lost their homes or their business as a result of the rains will receive a cash payout of HTG 5,000 (USD 125) to meet emergency needs such as food, shelter, water and temporary shelter. Fonkoze reports, “these clients will also receive a reimbursement of the balance of their existing loan and a new loan when they are ready to restart their business” [1]. Continue Reading »