ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) and FSD Africa have signed a partnership to support the 2026 BimaLab Africa Insurtech Accelerator, one of the first workstreams under a wider collaboration to advance inclusive and sustainable insurance solutions across Africa. The partnership was formalised at ZEP-RE Place, the company’s headquarters in Upper Hill, Nairobi, ahead of the opening of the call for applications for the 2026 cohort across the 28 countries where Bimalab has a footprint.
The wider collaboration will also cover investment mobilisation, microinsurance, knowledge sharing, ESG, climate resilience, sustainable insurance, and selected renewable energy risk opportunities. BimaLab Africa 2026 turns that collaboration into immediate action by supporting African insurtech ventures ready to build, test and scale inclusive insurance solutions.
The programme will support up to 10 insurtech and tech-enabled ventures with tested products or early market traction across five priority areas: climate and agriculture, health, SMEs, gender and digital platforms. The six-month accelerator will help selected ventures refine their insurance propositions, strengthen their business models, navigate regulatory pathways and prepare for investment and market partnerships.
Speaking during the signing, Linet Odera, Group Chief Inclusive Solutions, at ZEP-RE, said:
“This partnership is about helping insurance innovation move from pilot to scaling up. By bringing reinsurance expertise, risk knowledge and market experience into the process, ZEP-RE can help scale solutions that expand protection, strengthen resilience and respond to the needs of African markets.”
Elias Omondi, Principal for Sustainable Insurance, FSD Africa said:
“The insurance protection gap is one of Africa’s most underestimated development challenges, only less than 1% of the continent’s disaster losses are insured. The BimaLab Insurtech Accelerator has shown that African innovators can close this gap by developing fitting solutions for farmers, women, SMEs and low-income households. Our partnership with ZEP-RE gives Insurtech innovators what they have lacked: reinsurance capacity, regional market access, and a credible pathway to scale. This is how we move from promising pilots to protection for millions.”
Commissioner of Insurance and IRA CEO Godfrey Kiptum said:
“Innovation can expand access to insurance, but it must be responsible from the start. Platforms such as BimaLab help innovators engage regulators early, test practical insurance solutions and reach underserved markets while protecting consumers.”
Since its launch in 2020, BimaLab Africa has supported more than 135 startups across 28 African countries. The programme has helped catalyse over 150 insurance solutions that reach more than six million customers, supported regulatory sandbox development in eight markets, and helped mobilise more than USD 30 million in early-stage capital into Africa’s insurtech ecosystem.
The 2026 cohort is built around commercial readiness, underwriting discipline and scalable insurance propositions. Through the partnership, ZEP-RE will contribute reinsurance expertise, technical mentorship, market networks and support from the ZEP-RE Academy, while FSD Africa will lead programme design, startup recruitment, regulatory engagement and investor matchmaking.
The accelerator will also help prepare promising ventures for future investment opportunities, including potential consideration by the Inclusive Insurtech Investment Fund, 3iF, co-anchored by FSD Africa Investments and ZEP-RE. The call for applications opens this week for African insurtech and tech-enabled ventures ready to build, test and scale inclusive insurance solutions.
About ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company)
ZEP-RE is a leading pan-African reinsurer and specialised institution of COMESA established in 1990 with a mandate to develop the (re)insurance industry, build capacity, mobilize investments and deepen financial inclusion. It has operations in over 45 African countries with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and eight country/regional offices spread across Sub-Saharan Africa in Côte d’Ivoire, D.R. Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. ZEP-RE’s subsidiary ACRE Africa focuses on resilience and credit access for small-holder farmers through technology and insurance with 6 offices across Africa. It is the second best rated African reinsurer on the continent by A.M. Best with a credit rating of B++ (Financial Strength)/bbb+ (Issuer Credit). For more information, please visit our website www.zep-re.com.
About FSD Africa
FSD Africa is a specialist development agency making finance work for Africa’s future. We work with governments, regulators, and financial institutions across 30 countries to strengthen markets, shape policy, and mobilise capital into opportunities supporting growth, climate resilience, the clean energy transition, and nature-positive development. Supported by the UK Government alongside philanthropic and development partners, we also deploy catalytic capital through our investment arm, FSD Africa Investments. For more information, please visit: https://www.fsdafrica.org ”
About BimaLab Africa
BimaLab Africa is an insurtech accelerator innovating insurance to build resilience for Africa’s underserved. An initiative of FSD Africa, BimaLab backs high impact insurtech innovators closing a protection gap that leaves more than 97% of the continent uninsured providing mentorship, regulatory access, funding, and strategic partnerships, alongside one of Africa’s strongest insurance networks. Over the past 6 years, BimaLab has supported 135 startups across 28 African countries to develop more than 300 insurance solutions, now reaching over 6 million underserved customers. Together, BimaLab is building an African insurance sector that rewards innovation and channels protection to where it is needed most. Learn more at bimalab.org.
