“Diamonds No Longer Forever;” by Scott Gaul; published by Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX); April 2012; available at: http://www.themix.org/publications/microbanking-bulletin/2012/04/diamonds-no-longer-forever Continue Reading »

Partners in Community Development in Fiji (PCDF), a Fiji-based nongovernmental organization (NGO), and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI), a state-owned insurance group based in India, reportedly have launched a microinsurance project in Urata Village, Fiji. Continue Reading »

National Insurance Timor-Leste (NITL), an insurance company in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, has partnered with local microfinance institutions (MFIs) Tuba Rai Metin and Moris Rasik to introduce regulated microinsurance products in the country. Continue Reading »

A trial government-run microinsurance program is currently being conducted involving cotton farmers in the Bunda district of Tanzania. Continue Reading »

According to a report titled “Protecting the Poor a Microinsurance Compendium” that was recently published by the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, an initiative of the UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) and Munich Re, a German reinsurance company, the total market for microinsurance reached 500 million people with the largest shares in India and China. Continue Reading »

“Designing Disclosure Regimes for Responsible Financial Inclusion,” by Jennifer Chien; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); March 2012; 23 pages; available at:
http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.57109/FN_78.pdf Continue Reading »

The Institute of Microfinance (InM), a Bangladesh-based nonprofit that aims to meet the research and training needs of microfinance institutions (MFIs), has begun a pilot micro health insurance scheme in Bangladesh. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, has partnered with Sri Lankan microinsurance company SANASA (Thrift, Credit and Cooperative Society in Sinhala) Insurance to “develop flexible, affordable, weather-based agricultural insurance products in Sri Lanka to minimize the impact of crop losses due to floods or droughts.” Continue Reading »

Ghana’s National Insurance Commission (NIC), the regulatory authority for the country’s insurance industry, reportedly has announced that a new national insurance law incorporating microinsurance will be passed sometime during 2012. Continue Reading »

The Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Company, a Philippines-based financial services provider, reportedly announced that its payments for microinsurance claims have increased by 784 percent from PHP 2.49 million (USD 58,400) in 2010 to PHP 22 million (USD 516,000) in 2011. Continue Reading »

Beema Samiti, Nepal’s insurance regulatory authority, reportedly has announced that a microinsurance program is expected to be extended to individuals and microenterprises in Nepal in May 2012 by private insurers. Continue Reading »

TIM Participacoes, the Brazilian subsidiary of Italian telecommunications company Telecom Italia Mobile, reportedly will launch a funeral microinsurance product for low-income individuals that can be enrolled in and paid for via mobile telephones. Continue Reading »

“Donors and Microinsurance,” published by the Microinsurance Network, 2012, 31 pages, available at: http://www.microinsurancenetwork.org/publication/fichier/MIN_Donor_study_2012.pdf Continue Reading »

“Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Emerging Markets: How Banks Can Grasp a $350 Billion Opportunity,” by Mutsa Chironga, et al; published by McKinsey & Company; 2012; 58 pages; available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/Financial_Services/Knowledge_Highlights/Recent_Reports/MSME%20Emerging%20Banking.aspx Continue Reading »

According to a report attributed to the Insurance Commission of the Philippines, a government body regulating the country’s insurance industry, the microinsurance program launched in 2010 has contributed to 3.1 million Filipinos having acquired insurance coverage. Continue Reading »

“Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011;” by Angus McCrone, et al; published by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Frankfurt School UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance; July 2011; 61 pages; available at:
http://www.fs-unep-centre.org/publications/global-trends-renewable-energy-investment-2011 Continue Reading »

Easypaisa, a Pakistani branchless banking services company, and Pakistan-based Adamjee Life Insurance Company Limited, have partnered to launch a free life insurance plan for Easypaisa clients. Continue Reading »

Freedom from Hunger, a US-based non-governmental organization that aims to alleviate poverty, and Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, plan to partner with six microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Andes mountains of Ecuador and Peru to implement Freedom from Hunger’s microfinance and health protection model. Continue Reading »