The Impact Insurance Facility of the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) and the French government’s Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) recently signed a three-year partnership seeking to strengthen the resilience of middle-income workers in the informal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Financial details of this partnership have not been reported.
Category: Microinsurance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), Bima Partner to Offer Microinsurance in Rural Papua New Guinea
The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), a Fiji-based United Nations initiative that attempts to extend financial services to unbanked Pacific Islanders, and Bima, a Sweden-based microinsurance provider that partners with mobile operators, recently launched an effort with the support of the European Union, the Australian government and the Bank of Papua New Guinea to provide two microinsurance products in Papua New Guinea (PNG) [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Three Social Security Insurance, Pension Schemes Launched in India; Banks May Bear Subsidy Costs
The administration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly has launched three new social security schemes in an effort to increase access to insurance and pension coverage for a “large” segment of India’s population.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CAF Development Bank of Latin America Links Rural Health Clinics, Remote Medical Specialists via Telemedicine in Ecuador
CAF Development Bank of Latin America, a Venezuela-based multilateral financial institution that was formerly known as the Corporacion Andina de Fomento, recently partnered with Telesalud de Venezuela, a telemedicine firm that offers health services in rural and other underserved areas in Latin America, to pilot a health microinsurance project in Ecuador.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CelsiusPro Partners with BlueOrchard to Manage KfW’s Climate Insurance Fund (CIF), World Bank Group to Improve Agricultural Insurance in Ukraine
Swiss microfinance investment manager BlueOrchard and Swiss weather index insurance service provider CelsiusPro recently were appointed as co-managers of the Climate Insurance Fund (CIF), an initiative created by German development bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW) that aims to reduce the vulnerability of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households to climate change by improving access to and use of insurance.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Maize Insurance in Burkina Faso, Risks to Microfinance in Pakistan, Claims Analysis in Health Microinsurance
“Loan Protection for Maize Farmers in Burkina Faso;” by Barbara Magnoni and Danielle Sobol; published by The MicroInsurance Centre; 2014; 13 pages; available at http://www.microinsurancecentre.org/resources/documents/milk-brief-35-doing-the-math-loan-protection-for-maize-farmers-in-burkina-faso/download.html
This paper presents the findings of a study focusing on the impact of droughts, specifically the costs to maize farmers in Burkina Faso.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Striving for Consistency: An Effort to Standardize Impact Assessments in Microinsurance
Risks and unexpected events affect us all. However, for low-income people, the financial impact of an unforeseen shock such as a health crisis, the death of a breadwinner or destroyed crops can be devastating. With minimal resources to draw on, many must rely on informal coping mechanisms, such as selling productive assets, taking children out of school either to work or because fees are no longer affordable, or relying on their support network to finance the shock, which can often cause families to spiral into poverty.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Exploring New Frontiers – The Potential of Impact Investments in Microinsurance
By Jeremy Leach, Sandisiwe Ncube and Anand Menon; published by the Microinsurance Network; 2014; 49 pages; available at http://www.microinsurancenetwork.org/sites/default/files/MICRO_NetworkInvestor_PaperWEB.pdf
Microinsurance, a risk mitigation and management tool for people with low incomes, has grown from 78 million lives covered in 2005 to approximately 263 million lives in 2013, with a potential market estimated at 3 billion to 4 billion policies generating USD 30 billion to USD 50 billion in annual premium revenue. Total demand for microinsurance is growing approximately 10 percent per year, which the authors argue points to increasing investment opportunities and a promising business case for investors.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Services Firm Digicel Invests $5m in Bima to Promote Microinsurance in Asia-Pacific, Caribbean, Central America
Digicel, a Bermuda-based cellular network provider that operates in 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, recently invested USD 5 million in Bima, a Sweden-based mobile microinsurance provider that operates in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, to expand microinsurance product offerings in the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific region.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Développement international Desjardins (DID), Financière agricole du Québec-Développement international (FADQDI) to Offer Agricultural Microinsurance, Training in Colombia
Développement international Desjardins (DID), a Canadian nonprofit providing technical support and investment for the community finance sector in emerging economies, and Financière agricole du Québec – Développement international (FADQDI), a Canadian nonprofit that aims to promote rural economic development, recently announced that they will launch a joint project with the aim of supporting the agricultural sector in Colombia.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Peru, Colombia, the Philippines Top 2014 Global Microscope on Microfinance Business Environment
According to the Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2014, a recent report by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Peru is the top country in enabling microfinance for the seventh consecutive year.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC) to Provide $18m to Peru-based La Positiva Seguros Generales through Convertible Subordinated Loan to Expand Insurance to Poor People
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the US-based World Bank Group that offers financial services to businesses and governments in developing countries with the aim of increasing economic growth, recently announced that it will provide USD 18 million to La Positva Seguros Generales, a Peru-based insurance company, through a convertible subordinated loan to expand the availability of insurance to disadvantaged populations within Peru.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grameen Foundation, MicroEnsure, Penda, Clifford Chance Launch Uzima Health Microinsurance in Kenya
The Grameen Foundation, a US-based nonprofit organization; MicroEnsure, a UK-based, for-profit microinsurance company founded by US-based NGO Opportunity International; Penda Health, a Kenya-based, for-profit chain of medical centers; and Clifford Chance, a UK-based international law firm, recently announced that they have launched an initiative called the “Uzima Project” in Kenya with the aim of providing “low-cost“ health insurance.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Digital Financial Services Risk Assessment for Microfinance Institutions, Microinsurance Awareness in Ghana, G2P for Financial Inclusion: A Job Half Done
“Digital Financial Services Risk Assessment For Microfinance Institutions – A Pocket Guide;” by Tom Shaw, Marcella Willis, Daryl Skoog, Sonia Arenaza, Sudha Garg, Susan Salerno, Eve Hamilton and Shailee Adnolfi; published by The Digital Financial Services Working Group; September 2014; 15 pages; available at https://lextonblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/dfs_risk_guide_sept_2014_final.pdf
The authors of this “pocket guide”[1] argue for the importance of “Digital Financial Services (DFS)”[1] to reach low-income individuals who do not have access to traditional banking solutions.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microinsurance Distribution Channels, Friendship Bridge, MicroVest Impact Reports
“Microinsurance Distribution Channels: Insights for Insurers;” by Alice Merry, Pranav Prashad and Tobias Hoffarth; published by the Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization as Paper Number 33; June 2014; 25 pages; available at http://www.microinsurancefacility.org/sites/default/files/MP33.pdf
The Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations that addresses labour standards and related issues, recently analyzed the distribution channels available to microinsurance providers based on the experiences of 60 of its partner institutions.
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sanabel 2014 Conference : “Microfinance at Crossroads : Current Developments and Future Prospects in the Arab States”, September 29-30, 2014, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Event Name: Sanabel 2014 Conference : Microfinance at Crossroads : Current Developments and Future Prospects in the Arab States
Event Date: September 29 – September 30, 2014
Event Location: Intercontinental – Festival City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to Revise Microinsurance Product Structure in Effort to Encourage Growth of Industry
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the government agency charged with overseeing India’s insurance market, reportedly is set to release revised guidelines on the structure and features of microinsurance products in order to allow insurance companies to incentivize third-party institutions to sell the products.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Infinity Microfinance Bank, Partnership for Transforming Health Systems 2 (PATHS2) to Expand Micro Health Insurance Coverage in Nigeria
Infinity Microfinance Bank, a Nigerian microbank, and the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems 2 (PATHS2), a program intended to improve Nigeria’s health system that is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), reportedly will collaborate to expand PATHS2’s “Micro Health Insurance Scheme” (MHIS) in the country.