The lower house of the National Congress of Brazil recently approved a new financial operations tax for microinsurance companies of approximately one percent on the sale of microinsurance.
Category: Microinsurance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Insurance Organization (AIO) Inaugurates Microinsurance Committee
The African Insurance Organization (AIO), a Cameroon-based nonprofit that seeks to promote intra-African cooperation in developing Africa’s insurance and reinsurance industry, recently inaugurated a Microinsurance Committee to oversee the growth of microinsurance on the continent.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Myanmar Licences First Private Insurers
The Myanmar government reportedly has granted operating licenses to five insurance companies in line with its financial reform policy. International Kanbawza Insurance, a subsidiary of Kanbawza Bank (KBZ) is the first insurance company to have started operation in the city of Yangon, providing both standard insurance and microinsurance[1].
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microcredit in Mexico, Impact Investing and Microfinance, Microinsurance and Preventing Child Labor
“Win Some Lose Some? Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco;” by Manuela Angelucci, Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman; published by Innovations for Poverty Action; May 2013; 68 pages; available at: https://poverty-action.org/sites/default/files/ipa_winsomelosesome_release_0.pdf
This paper presents an analysis of whether microcredit products are counterproductive to promoting economic empowerment, especially when such products are offered at high interest rates.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) of India Proposes Microinsurance Firms Provide Maturity Benefit Policies to Boost Sales
In an effort to boost sales of microinsurance in India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the country’s regulatory body for the insurance industry, reportedly has proposed that microinsurance firms offer policies with maturity benefits [1].
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Financing Africa, Social Performance Indicators for Microinsurance, Segmentation of Agricultural Households
“Financing Africa Through the Crisis and Beyond;” by Thorsten Beck, Samuel Munzele Maimbo, Issa Faye and Thouraya Triki; published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), World Bank Group, African Development Bank; 2013; 322 pages; available at: http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Financing%20Africa%20Through%20the%20Crisis%20and%20Beyond.pdf
This book presents a review of trends in Africa’s financial sector in the context of Africa’s past economic development trends and broader historical background.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean, Savings Groups Leading to Advocacy, Microinsurance in the Philippines
“Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2012: Differing Behavior Across Subregions;” by Maria Luisa Hayem; published by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF); 2013; 27 pages; available at http://www5.iadb.org/mif/HOME/Knowledge/tabid/426/idPublication/78709/language/en-US/Default.aspx
This report from the US-based Multilateral Investment Fund provides an analysis of remittances received across national borders by people in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATON ROUND-UP: Rural Finance in Laos, Micro-Health Insurance in Rural India, Distribution Models in Mobile Financial Services
“Rural Finance in Loas: GIZ Experience in Remote Rural Areas;” by Klaus Prochaska, Dennis Fischer, Philipp Hauger, Tony Deary; published by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); December 2012; 40 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.61072/Rural_Finance_in%20Laos_Paper_GIZ_2012.pdf
This report presents an analysis of the “Microfinance in Rural Areas – Access to Finance for the Poor” project, which is operated by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), an agency of the German Government, in partnership with the Bank of Lao, the central bank of Laos.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Plays, Postcards Help Indian Microinsurers to Increase Renewals
Microinsurance providers in India have recently implemented strategies such as street plays and handwritten postcards in local languages to increase policy renewals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies, Star Microinsurance to Help Microbanks Offer Insurance
Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies (GAMC), an association with 560 member microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Star Microinsurance Services Limited, a Ghana-based insurance provider that serves approximately 550,000 clients, recently signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the provision of microinsurance products to clients of various MFIs.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria’s Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc. Establishes Microfinance Bank In Effort to Drive Microinsurance
Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc, a Nigeria-based provider of insurance and other financial services, recently announced that it has established a microfinance bank (MFB) to promote its microinsurance offerings, which carry premiums as low as NGN 50 (USD 0.30) per three day period covering up to NGN 100,000 (USD 600) in hospital expenses and in the event of loss of life.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Younger People in Kenya More Open to “Game Changer” of Buying Investment, Insurance Products by Mobile Phone
In July 2012, Old Mutual Kenya (OMK), a Nairobi-based investment subsidiary of UK-based Old Mutual Group, launched i-Invest, a platform that offers investment products that can be purchased via M-Pesa, a service of a Kenya-based mobile operator Safaricom.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Microfinance Institution Tiers, Microfinance in East Africa, Weather Risk Management
“Microfinance Institution Tier Definitions;” published by MicroRate; April 2013; 2 pages; available at http://www.microrate.com/media/downloads/2013/04/MicroRate-White-paper-Microfinance-Institution-Tier-Definitions.pdf
This report proposes a “tier system that defines microfinance institution [MFI] peer groups by institutional maturity to provide a foundation for industry analysis and informed dialogue.”
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nationwide Microbank of Papua New Guinea Launches MiLife Mobile Life Microinsurance
Nationwide Microbank, a microfinance institution (MFI) in Papua New Guinea, recently launched MiLife, a mobile microinsurance product covering the life of low-income married couples.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Why People Do Not Buy Microinsurance and What Can We Do About It;” by Michal Matul, Aparna Dalal, Ombeline De Bock and Wouler Gelade; published by Microinsurance Innovation Facility
By Michal Matul, Aparna Dalal, Ombeline De Bock and Wouler Gelade, published by Microinsurance Innovation Facility, February 2013, 31 pages, available at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/mifacility/download/mpaper20_buy.pdf
This paper published by the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, a Switzerland-based initiative of the UN’s International Labour Organization, examines the “determinants of demand” for microinsurance products in the developing world and looks at why, despite its potential to mitigate risk, the demand for microinsurance is low.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Employers in Thailand Required to Purchase Health Insurance for Migrant Workers
Employers in Thailand are now reportedly required to buy THB 1,047 (USD 36) worth of health insurance each for migrant worker they employ who is in the process of entering, or ineligible for, Thailand’s social security system.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Insurance Commission (NIC) of Ghana Announces New Microinsurance Regulations
The National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana’s regulatory authority for the industry, reportedly has instituted a new regulatory framework that is intended to promote the microinsurance sector.
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Microinsurance in Ghana: Microinsurance as a Means of Insurance Sector Development;” by Jan Meissner; published by the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
By Jan Meissner; published by Ghana’s National Insurance Commission (NIC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); 2013; 243 pages; available at: http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.61118/Promoting%20Microinsurance%20in%20Ghana_Full%20Book.pdf
This book analyzes potential ways to enhance the development of the microinsurance sector in Ghana, providing an overview of inclusive financial market development in the country as well as a series of recommended best practices for microinsurance development.