Pillar: Adaptation and Resilience

Insurance for inclusive and sustainable growth – imperatives for action

Insurance has a strong role in combatting poverty and advancing development, in at least three ways:

Improving individual and household resilience
Insurance makes households more resilient in the face of financial shocks. Insurance also enables households to access services such as credit, health and education that may otherwise not be attainable to them.

Improving business resilience & productivity
Effective risk transfer is a fundamental part of corporate sustainability.
It also facilitates exports and imports, enables foreign investment and helps to ensure access – at better terms – to business financing.

Developing the demand and supply of capital
Insurance mobilizes capital through premium collection, its role in enabling business development and its linkages with the pensions market.It also pools capital into larger pots of funds that are more efficient to manage and invest.

Recognising the role that insurance can play in supporting sustainable development and growth, the UK’s DFID partnered with the World Bank, FSD Africa and Cenfri to conduct a series of diagnostics that explore how these three roles manifest in four countries in SSA: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.

This paper synthesises cross-cutting themes from the study countries and beyond and draws conclusions and recommendations on how to further develop insurance markets.

Building concrete markets: the role of insurance in property markets in Africa

In principle, insurers as institutional investors should also play a role in investment into the property market, either directly or by mobilising and catalysing capital markets.

Outside of direct property investments, however, there is a lack of feasible investment-ready opportunities in the sub-Saharan Africa property market.

From the findings, it is clear that the development community can promote the role of the insurance market in the property market (or other relevant economic sectors) by entrenching a holistic value chain lens in dialogues between the insurance sector, regulators and stakeholders from the real economy. This requires an understanding of the multifaceted ecosystem of the particular industry, including the actors in its value chain, and the incentives, risks and barriers faced by these actors at each segment of the value chain. There is also a need to (further) promote the development of investment vehicles that would allow efficient and aggregated investments into property markets at scale, and to rethink insurance products that meet the needs and limitations of property owners.

Where are the flows? exploring barriers to remittances in sub-Saharan Africa

Remittance flows represent an increasingly important source of income for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Between 2012 and 2015, formal flows steadily grew at a higher growth rate than foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA). As a result, the value of formal remittances sent into SSA today almost matches those of FDI and ODA. Formal flows between countries in SSA are greater than ever. However, since 2016, the value of formal remittances sent into the region is no longer growing. Much of which is migrating to informal channels as SSA still has the most expensive corridors in the world, both in terms of sending funds from outside as well as within the region.

Remittances act as key sources of financial support for households: they reduce the likelihood of impoverishment, contribute to improved health and education, and provide greater resilience to financial shocks. To maximise formal remittance impact in the region, the true cost of sending and receiving the funds needs to drop to incentivise higher formal flows. This does not only include a decline in the remittances prices but also improved access for senders and recipients at the first and last mile.

To offer a more detailed analysis of the barriers to formal remittances in SSA, a new report from Cenfri and FSDA outlines the complexities of achieving sustainable cost reductions and increased access for remittance senders and recipients.

Vol. 1 of a seven-part series marks the start by identifying the most prominent corridors within and into SSA in terms of volume, cost and importance for the economy. It also investigates the relationship between remittance flows and migration patterns, used as a proxy to identify pain points in specific corridors. This report is aimed at remittance stakeholders, policymakers and anyone who is interested in understanding the remittance market in SSA in more detail.

Vol. 2 investigates barriers based on deep dives in four different countries in SSA providing the overarching barriers to understand a highly complex value chain. Vol. 3 – 6 provides case studies of the four countries against the backdrop of their unique country context. Vol. 7 concludes with recommendations on necessary policy actions and multi-country approaches for remittance players.

Vol. 3 explores the state of the remittance sector in Uganda and unpacks the key challenges and best practices within the industry.

Vol. 4 explores the state of the remittance sector in Ethiopia.

Vol. 5 explores the state of the remittance sector in Côte d’Ivoire.

Vol. 6 explores the state of the remittance sector in Nigeria.

Vol. 7 aims to provide stakeholders that are active in remittance sectors with recommendations on how to systematically overcome the supply-side barriers to formal remittances in SSA.

Funding the frontier: the link between inclusive insurance market, growth and poverty reduction in Africa

Over the last decade, insurance markets in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have grown from 4.5 million risks covered to more than 60 million risks covered today. However, according to this report, insurance penetration in SSA remains amongst the lowest in the world with life penetration at 0.3% and non-life at 0.5%, limiting its intermediation potential and contribution to inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction.

The report takes stock of the state of insurance markets across a sample of 15 countries in the region (Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia). It finds, although there is no universal development path of insurance sectors in SSA, they seem to be progressing, at varying speeds, through four different stages of market development: the establishment and corporate asset stage, the early growth and compulsory insurance stage, the retail expansion stage and the diversified retail stage.

The report highlights that, most countries in the sample are locked into the early growth and compulsory insurance stage of insurance market development due to a number of exogenous and endogenous factors, which serve as barriers to the role of insurance in growth. Exogenous factors include barriers such as low income levels, informalisation of the economy and limited financial sector development, while endogenous barriers include small markets, a shortage of skills and data, and limited distribution infrastructure.

Commenting on the report, Doubell Chamberlain, the Managing Director of Cenfri says:

Insurance contributes to growth and poverty reduction in many ways. Over the last decade, the focus in development circles has been on how insurance, or microinsurance, can support resilience, and encourage productive risk taking behavior, amongst low-income individuals.

There has been less of a focus on how insurance markets can support livelihoods of low-income adults through mobilising and intermediating capital for growth. We hope that this report stimulates a new discussion on the role of insurance in supporting economic growth in SSA and invite those interested to follow up with us or FSD Africa.”

Risk, remittances and integrity programme

The five-year RRI programme is a partnership between FSD Africa and Cenfri. Its aim is to improve welfare and boost investment growth in sub-Saharan Africa. To achieve this, it works to strengthen the integrity and risk management role of the financial sector and to facilitate remittance flows within and into the continent

Reaching the mass insurance market: where to start when going digital

Posted on by Kihingu Inc

For insurers to serve a new type of client at scale they must change their modus operandi. The high costs associated with conventional insurance cannot be absorbed by low premium products. This means that existing structures need to be adapted to serve the low to middle-income mass market.

One key to success lies in digitization, which can be used to automate existing (often paper-based) processes. Going digital has obvious benefits: minimising expenses, reducing the scope of human error, improving efficiency and achieving scale. But, how can insurers begin to make this shift?

Working with our partner Britam in Kenya, we have seen one route to becoming a digitally-driven insurer: start with strategic process mapping.

So what does a strategic approach to process mapping look like? Process mapping involves creating a flow chart to capture every step in a process. This is then analysed to see how the process could be redesigned. Process mapping can both reveal opportunities for automation and help manage the internal change required to put it into action.

The strategic element of process mapping lies in identifying how new processes can achieve greater efficiency and also help improve the client’s experience. The ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility advocates human-centred design, which focuses on integrating the experience of the target group into product design and delivery. To improve the client’s experience, we have found that careful analysis is needed both of client interactions and back-end processes.

To illustrate, let’s take a simple example. At Britam, one of the team’s many tasks was to redesign the member information gathering process at enrolment to cut data entry and courier costs. The team started by looking at the systems and resources in place to capture data, and the experience of internal and external stakeholders interacting with the system. Careful analysis from both “outside-in” and “inside-out” uncovered pitfalls and opportunities for automation of members’ enrolment data gathering, such as customers processing their own data through an automated platform.

However, there are limits to automation, including limited client access to internet and smart phones. This problem extends to partner organisations, who are in many for automated processes. For example, the mission hospitals who work with Britam prefer paper claims submission.

Furthermore, there may be initial teething problems with automation, especially when it is only partial and still relies on a degree of human intervention. For example and as illustrated by the graph, after making significant reductions in claims processing times through process automation, Britam found that the processing time started to increase again due to staff constraints. This highlighted the need to support process changes with training or new staffing structures.

Our change management projects have repeatedly shown that digitization success does not lie solely in introducing technology, but in how people are placed to handle this change. Understanding what it takes to encourage and sustain behavioural change, both internally and externally, is key to change management and to reaping the rewards of going digital.

This blog is part of a joint series between the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility and FSD Africa. The series explores practical solutions to manage change within insurance providers.

Getting ahead of the curve: how the regulatory discourse on M-insurance is changing

Posted on by Kihingu Inc

Nearly a year ago, we joined the A2ii in Abidjan to sit down with a roomful of regulators to discuss the challenges and imperatives CIMA faces in regulating mobile insurance at the CIMA-A2ii Workshop on Mobile Insurance Regulation. In the CIMA context, as with most countries in Africa, mobile network operators (MNOs) and the technical service providers (TSPs) that support them are emerging as key players in extending the reach of insurance. The discussions at the workshop focused on how insurance regulators can broaden their focus to include these MNOs and TSPs, as well as how to cooperate across different regulatory authorities.

A year on, these considerations remain as valid as ever, but we have come to realise that there is more at stake than m-insurance. Digital technology is changing the insurance landscape as we know it by paving the way for new players and business models with the potential to rapidly expand coverage. This is causing a re-think of how insurance is traditionally delivered. In addition, while m-insurance remains important, looking beyond m-insurance to the broader insurtech field is important to truly understand the opportunities technology provides to change the game in inclusive insurance and the associated risks.

Thus far, the insurtech debate has largely focused on developed country opportunities. But the tide is turning. My colleagues and I recently scanned the use of insurtech in the developing world to see what the potential is for addressing challenges in inclusive insurance. We found more than 90 initiatives in Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa that fit the bill. What we saw is that the “insurtech effect” is happening in two ways.

Firstly, digital technology is a tool to make insurance as we know it better: it is being used as a backbone to various elements of the insurance life cycle, in an effort to streamline processes, bring down costs and enable scale. Examples include new ways of data collection, communication and analytics (think big data, smart analytics, telematics, sensor-technology, artificial intelligence – the list goes on), as well as leveraging mobile and online platforms for front and back-end digital functionality (such as roboadvisors, online broker platforms, mobile phone or online claims lodging and processing, to name a few!).

It also allows for more tailored offerings: on-demand insurance initiatives are covering consumers for specific periods where they need that cover, for example for a bus ride, on vacation or when borrowing a friend’s car for one evening, while advances in sensor technology mean that insurers can adapt cover and pricing based on usage, for example allowing customers to only pay car insurance for the kilometres they actually drive every month.

In all of the above, digital technology, including the application of blockchain for smart contracting and claims, makes the process seamless.

Secondly, digital technology is a game changer. In many ways, it is changing the way insurers do business, design and roll out their products, and, importantly, who is involved in the value chain. Peer to peer platforms (P2P) are a much-discussed example of these next generation models. They are designed to match parties seeking insurance with those willing to cover these risks. The revolutionary element lies in the ability to cover risks that insurers usually shy away from due to the lack of data to adequately price the risks – all now enabled by digital technology. But these platforms are often positioned in regulatory grey areas: if all the platform does is match people to pool their own risks, does it then need a licensed insurer involved? And if advice is provided by a robot powered by an algorithm, who is ultimately accountable?

No wonder insurance supervisors are sitting up straight when you mention the word “tech”. As Luc Noubussi, microinsurance specialist at the CIMA secretariat, said at the 12th International Microinsurance Conference in Sri Lanka late last year: “Technology can have a major impact on microinsurance, but change is happening fast and regulators need to understand it”.

So, how do they remain on the front foot in light of all of this, what different functions, systems and players do they need to take into account and what are the risks arising? In short: how can they best facilitate innovation while protecting policyholders? Front of mind is how current regulatory and supervisory frameworks should accommodate new modalities, functions and roles – many of them outside the ambit of “traditional” insurance regulatory frameworks – and what cooperation is required between regulatory authorities to achieve that.

Two weeks from now we’ll again be sitting down with regulators from sub-Saharan Africa for the Mobile Insurance Regulationconference hosted in Douala, Cameroon, from 23 – 24 February 2017 by the A2ii, the IAIS and the 14 state West-African insurance regulator, CIMA, supported by UK aid, FSD Africa and the Munich Re Foundation. This conference will delve into the opportunities that mobile insurance present and the considerations for regulators and supervisors in designing and implementing regulations to accommodate it. The imperative to find an m-insurance regulatory solution remains, but it is clear that the horizon has broadened: at play is the way that insurance is done across the product life cycle, who the players are in the value chain and, at times, the very definition of insurance.

As we suggested in an earlier blog, this could be microinsurance’s Uber moment, but then regulators need to be on-board. We look forward to taking part in the discussions to see how supervisors plan to do just that.

Developing coaching cultures for business impact: jubilee insurance case study

Leaders in the financial sector are under constant pressure and scrutiny to ensure the sustainability and profitability of their institutions. Executive coaching is fast becoming a critical tool globally to support leaders to achieve impact on business performance.

Executive coaching is the delivery of structured one-to-one support, usually by conversation, by professional Executive Coaches to enable leaders to achieve specific organisational or leadership objectives over a defined period; and it closes the gap between potential and performance and enables the individual to optimise their contribution to the organisation.

This publication presents the case of The Jubilee Insurance Company of Kenya that has made the strategic decision to invest intentionally in the development of a coaching culture through a three-phased leadership development programme. Jubilee Kenya’s leadership is determined to cultivate a coaching culture that will enhance employee productivity and commitment, and contribute to business performance.

The growth of micro-insurance: expanding financial inclusion

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

Access to insurance across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is still very low and estimated to cover only around 5.4% of the population (approx. 61.9m people)[1]. Most of this coverage is represented by life insurance products, the penetration of which still pales in comparison to most developed markets. In these markets, insurance products are part of the financial landscape and are more of an expectation rather than the exception. However, attitudes of insurers in SSA are changing. Financial Sector Deepening Africa’s (FSDA) work with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has shown that insurers across the continent are looking to serve the market on a larger scale and through new channels.

Financial Inclusion has come a long way. Not long ago, the widespread definition of what it means to be “included” would only focus on access to a bank account. Thankfully, that notion has changed. A broader definition of the term has led to the development of many more services and ways to help lift the poor out of poverty – mobile money being the most prominent example.

Over the years, donor organisations (and market players) have understood that bank accounts are not enough to replace the abundance of products currently being used by people at the bottom of the pyramid. An in-depth look at the financial choices made by Kenyans in 2014 showed that the average household uses 14 different financial products.[2] Basically, the majority of people who have informal jobs are constantly juggling financial products, just to get by. About half of the respondents surveyed had an insurance product (directly or through welfare groups). However, effective use of formal insurance was low.

Improving and expanding insurance products for the poor

FSDA is in partnership with the ILO to expand microinsurance penetration in SSA thus helping poor people protect themselves against economic shocks. The FSDA funded project is looking to develop and grow new and existing microinsurance products across SSA[3], focused on the needs of the customer at or near the bottom of the pyramid. Together with the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility, FSDA will work with five insurers and/or distributors in four countries – Kenya, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia. The project will provide an inclusive financial service to more than one million low income people and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) who will gain access to insurance products that protect them from life’s surprises.

Creating relevant microinsurance products

Most of the continent’s large insurers are bureaucratic and focus on standard general and life insurance products. Not only are these products unaffordable to the bottom of the pyramid, but most people do not qualify for the products as they usually require formal employment. In a context where informal employment is estimated to be between 60% and 80% across Sub-Saharan Africa, this excludes a large part of the population.

Change Management

Insurance organisations need to change people, systems and processes of how they approach the SSA market. Ultimately, there is work to be done to help move these insurance companies & distributors from providing an exclusive product to becoming an inclusive provider. FSDA’s project will involve supporting consultants to work within the selected insurance institutions for three years to help them manage the change from within. These consultants will work to deliver and develop services that are designed to help insurers expand their reach and become both profitable and highly scalable.

Partner Selection

Insurance is an important part of financial inclusion as it helps people to prosper and mitigate risk necessary to grow productive businesses. To ensure that capable and willing partners were found to drive this market-wide change of the insurance market, FSDA opened applications to insurance companies across the continent who are looking to change their target market to include the financially underserved. The application process was open from December 2015 to mid-January 2016 and attracted over 32 proposals from East, West, and Southern Africa. The number and quality of these applications show that the Sub-Saharan insurance industry is ready for a paradigm shift in their approach to microinsurance.

Mobile channels are boosting product access

Majority of applicants for the funding wanted to build on the rapidly growing mobile channel in all of their respective markets. The increasing presence and growth of the mobile channel has helped to boost inclusion of access to financial services.

Insurers are recognising the different needs of their markets. However, regional differences remain and reflect the level of development of the existing insurance market. For example, many proposals from West Africa, a much more nascent insurance market, focused on providing the simpler products, such as health or life insurance. By contrast, in East Africa, insurance was focused on complex products, such as weather-based index insurance or insurance for small and medium enterprises.

The insurance space in Africa is rapidly evolving and FSDA’s role will be to guide motivated and committed insurers to make the changes necessary to grow their footprint in the underserved market.

[1] The Landscape of Microinsurance Africa 2015 Preliminary Briefing Note by Microinsurance Network.

[2] Kenya Financial Diaries; August 2014

[3] Kenya Financial Diaries; August 2014

The growth of inclusive insurance in Zambia

To reduce the vulnerability of poor women and men, FSD Zambia (and FinMark Trust beforehand) has undertaken to design and deliver a package of interventions to catalyse the microinsurance market in Zambia. This case study focuses in particular on the establishment of a multi-stakeholder Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to provide leadership and coordination in the industry, and act as a channel for interventions.

The TAG approach is based on the assumption that engaging relevant industry stakeholders is the most effective way to ensure relevance and ownership of a change agenda in a nascent market’s growth. Zambia’s approach is considered a demonstration case which forms the basis for replication in several other countries.

FSD Zambia’s experience in the microinsurance market demonstrates the importance of building industry leadership and coordination in an industry to drive market development. The strong technical knowledge and experience of FSD Zambia’s microinsurance team has provided a platform for conducting analysis and generating insights and lessons.

It has also drawn on its exposure to wider trends and resources, for example the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility and other microinsurance initiatives across Africa, to stimulate cross-learning and innovation among Zambian market players. Using different communication channels and information products have also helped foster trust and the emergence of a cohesive voice for the microinsurance industry.