Now reading: Role of inclusive insurance markets in economic growth and poverty reduction

Resilience & Insurance


Cenfri has deep insurance expertise from working with the insurance markets in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Insurance penetration in these markets is often low and we understand the need for responsible market innovation so that insurance fulfils its optimal role in building resilience, supporting business growth, and contributing to broader policy and development objectives.

The breadth of Cenfri’s insurance and resilience work spans diagnostic studies, development of global and regional standards and national regulations, technical assistance and innovation support (to regulators and the private sector), innovation studies, MSME-tailored resilience solutions, improved risk management in response to climate-related events, and definitive work on cell captives.

Our partners include GIZ, Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), the UK’s FCDO (formerly DFID), the FSD Africa and other financial sector deepening trusts, the Swiss Capacity Building Fund, FSCA, Hollard, Santam, Old Mutual, AXA, Britam, Generali, the Microinsurance Network, UNCDF, UNDP, The World Bank, IFC, IADB and ADB. 

Resilience & Insurance

Role of inclusive insurance markets in economic growth and poverty reduction

There is much dialogue on the way insurance markets can contribute to poverty reduction by helping low-income individuals to preserve assets and mitigate the effects of financial shocks, thereby reducing vulnerability. There has also been significant effort to promote microinsurance to low-income adults. However, less has been written about the

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Digital Transformation & Data

Insurtech tracker archive

This is the first version of the insurtech tracker. Explore more on insurtech here or see the updated insurtech tracker here.  

Read More »
Financial Inclusion

What use is financial inclusion, when you can’t pay the bills?

The 2017 budget, unveiled by the Minister of Finance Honourable Felix Mutati in Zambia earlier this month incorporates new austerity measures but has incorporated significant increases in social welfare benefits. . However, restricted liquidity conditions in the Zambian economy have significantly impacted access to capital and finance, hindering the expansion

Read More »
Resilience & Insurance

Proportionate regulatory frameworks in inclusive insurance

It is over a decade since the first microinsurance regulations were introduced in India in 2005. With at least 18 insurance supervisors having rolled out microinsurance regulations since the landscape is now vastly different. This report from Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) looks back at what supervisory approaches have been undertaken

Read More »
Financial Inclusion

Understanding account usage through a consumer lens

Over the past five years, the move towards digital financial services and simplified account opening procedures has improved the take-up of accounts by the low-income sector. The 2014 global Findex data highlighted that the number of people without access to formal accounts decreased from 2.5 billion in 2011 to 2

Read More »
Could this be microinsurance's uber moment?
Resilience & Insurance

Could this be microinsurance’s uber moment?

Over the last decade, microinsurance has grown from covering fewer than 100 million risks to covering more than 500 million. But are we overstating what this growth means for insurance market development? The diagram below illustrates how an insurance market typically develops in a country: from initially just underwriting large

Read More »
Governance, Policy & Regulation

Reading between the data

In 2014, 22.2% of adults in Zambia were covered by insurance. In 2015, just 2.6% were. If you are working on insurance in Zambia you would probably think the magnitude of this change was because of the discontinuing of the Airtel Life product. But even if you exclude Airtel Life

Read More »
Financial Inclusion

Big data for small policies

What does big data mean for microinsurance? There are 24.2 million adults in Tanzania. About 15 million experienced an insurable event in 2013. Less than 3 million of those reported to have insurance and even less (200,000) actually used insurance to manage their risk. In other words, 14.8 million adults

Read More »
Resilience & Insurance

Role of inclusive insurance markets in economic growth and poverty reduction

There is much dialogue on the way insurance markets can contribute to poverty reduction by helping low-income individuals to preserve assets and mitigate the effects of financial shocks, thereby reducing vulnerability. There has also been significant effort to promote microinsurance to low-income adults. However, less has been written about the

Getting ahead of the curve: How the regulatory discourse on M-insurance is changing
Digital Transformation & Data

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

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

Digital Transformation & Data

Insurtech tracker archive

This is the first version of the insurtech tracker. Explore more on insurtech here or see the updated insurtech tracker here.  

Financial Inclusion

What use is financial inclusion, when you can’t pay the bills?

The 2017 budget, unveiled by the Minister of Finance Honourable Felix Mutati in Zambia earlier this month incorporates new austerity measures but has incorporated significant increases in social welfare benefits. . However, restricted liquidity conditions in the Zambian economy have significantly impacted access to capital and finance, hindering the expansion

Resilience & Insurance

Proportionate regulatory frameworks in inclusive insurance

It is over a decade since the first microinsurance regulations were introduced in India in 2005. With at least 18 insurance supervisors having rolled out microinsurance regulations since the landscape is now vastly different. This report from Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) looks back at what supervisory approaches have been undertaken

Financial Inclusion

Understanding account usage through a consumer lens

Over the past five years, the move towards digital financial services and simplified account opening procedures has improved the take-up of accounts by the low-income sector. The 2014 global Findex data highlighted that the number of people without access to formal accounts decreased from 2.5 billion in 2011 to 2

Could this be microinsurance's uber moment?
Resilience & Insurance

Could this be microinsurance’s uber moment?

Over the last decade, microinsurance has grown from covering fewer than 100 million risks to covering more than 500 million. But are we overstating what this growth means for insurance market development? The diagram below illustrates how an insurance market typically develops in a country: from initially just underwriting large

Governance, Policy & Regulation

Reading between the data

In 2014, 22.2% of adults in Zambia were covered by insurance. In 2015, just 2.6% were. If you are working on insurance in Zambia you would probably think the magnitude of this change was because of the discontinuing of the Airtel Life product. But even if you exclude Airtel Life

Financial Inclusion

Big data for small policies

What does big data mean for microinsurance? There are 24.2 million adults in Tanzania. About 15 million experienced an insurable event in 2013. Less than 3 million of those reported to have insurance and even less (200,000) actually used insurance to manage their risk. In other words, 14.8 million adults