Now reading: Impact of remittances for recovery and resilience through digital and financial inclusion

Sustainability


While global efforts prioritise carbon emission reduction, Africa contends with immediate losses—environmental degradation, food scarcity, and economic instability—challenges that threaten to unravel development and exacerbate poverty. This highlights the need to merge development and climate strategies, ensuring community resilience under these conditions. 

Cenfri has been actively involved in shaping the insurance resilience landscape through a variety of projects. This has been possible through collaboration with key stakeholders like UNEP FI, FSDA, NDSI, and AXA. Our body of work includes insurance and inclusion diagnostics, climate risk management convenings and drafting policies and strategies that leverage insurance as a response to climate risks.  

We are keen to partner with others in expanding our portfolio of sustainability work and are exploring how to manage the trade-offs between economic opportunity, security and sustainability in Africa.

Building resilience against flooding in urban areas
Resilience & Insurance

Building resilience against flooding in urban areas

Flooding in urban areas across Africa is on the rise. The continent needs to implement risk-management techniques to ensure its cities are resilient to climate change and the devastation it can cause. This article explores possible ways Africa can build resilience against flooding in urban areas. Across Africa the annual

Read More »
Opportunities and challenges to innovation in the Ugandan insurance market
Governance, Policy & Regulation

Opportunities and challenges to innovation in the Ugandan insurance market

Most Ugandans face insurable risks, yet uptake of insurance remains very low at only 1.4%. Innovations in global insurance markets have illustrated how insurance can be better designed, offer more affordably and thus provide better value for customers. Uganda enacted a new Insurance Act in 2018. This act expanded the

Read More »
The case for insurance innovators to consider the cell captive regulatory model
Digital Transformation & Data

The case for insurance innovators to consider the cell captive regulatory model

 In many African countries, the potential for inclusive insurance markets is significant, however, this potential has yet to be fully realised. High entry barriers for new innovative players and regulation that may not effectively accommodate them are important contributing factors.   The cell captive model has emerged as a way for entrepreneurs or organisations with an insurance business

Read More »
COVID-19 is catalysing insurance innovation in Africa, but there is more at stake
Resilience & Insurance

COVID-19 catalyses insurance innovation

But in Africa, there is more at stake A key imperative identified by our deep-dive studies across four sub-Saharan African countries was that for the insurance sector to contribute to sustainable development, policymakers and regulators need to take a more active role in leading and enabling innovation in their markets. Never has this imperative been truer than now – as the world is

Read More »
Holistic interventions for MSME resilience 
MSMEs, Ecosystems & Economic Opportunity

Holistic interventions for MSME resilience 

A guidebook using nine Asian countries (Cambodia, India, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam) under the GIZ Integrated Climate and Disaster Risk Management Framework.  Micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of many economies globally. They contribute considerably to economic growth, employment and innovation. The IFC estimates that MSMEs account

Read More »
From product provider to trusted risk advisor
MSMEs, Ecosystems & Economic Opportunity

From product provider to trusted risk advisor

Unlocking the SME insurance market through a holistic approach to building resilience. I recently moved into an apartment above a popular Cape Town restaurant, the owner of which is also my landlord. Last week, the restaurant had a major leak that took a plumber three days to fix. Fixing a

Read More »
African insurance market
Payments & Remittances

Building African insurance market resilience

The need to build greater resilience in Africa and globally has been clearly demonstrated by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our society. The insurance industry has not been unaffected; work Cenfri did with OESAI and FSD Africa in June indicated that over 60% of insurers experienced a

Read More »
Africa’s insurance fails to deliver on COVID-19
Payments & Remittances

Africa’s insurance fails to deliver on COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the need for the African insurance sector to demonstrate its critical role in supporting people and businesses. The pandemic has been the most severe risk event in Africa in years, but many insurers have not delivered on their promise. If the sector

Read More »
MSME microinsurance
MSMEs, Ecosystems & Economic Opportunity

Managing risks (more) effectively: Rethinking insurance for MSMEs 

MSMEs form the backbone of many economies globally and give rise to economic growth, employment and innovation. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the extreme vulnerability of MSMEs to exogenous shocks and risks. However, the uptake and use of insurance remains extremely low for this group. In sub- Saharan Africa, it

Read More »
Building resilience against flooding in urban areas
Resilience & Insurance

Building resilience against flooding in urban areas

Flooding in urban areas across Africa is on the rise. The continent needs to implement risk-management techniques to ensure its cities are resilient to climate change and the devastation it can cause. This article explores possible ways Africa can build resilience against flooding in urban areas. Across Africa the annual

Opportunities and challenges to innovation in the Ugandan insurance market
Governance, Policy & Regulation

Opportunities and challenges to innovation in the Ugandan insurance market

Most Ugandans face insurable risks, yet uptake of insurance remains very low at only 1.4%. Innovations in global insurance markets have illustrated how insurance can be better designed, offer more affordably and thus provide better value for customers. Uganda enacted a new Insurance Act in 2018. This act expanded the

The case for insurance innovators to consider the cell captive regulatory model
Digital Transformation & Data

The case for insurance innovators to consider the cell captive regulatory model

 In many African countries, the potential for inclusive insurance markets is significant, however, this potential has yet to be fully realised. High entry barriers for new innovative players and regulation that may not effectively accommodate them are important contributing factors.   The cell captive model has emerged as a way for entrepreneurs or organisations with an insurance business

COVID-19 is catalysing insurance innovation in Africa, but there is more at stake
Resilience & Insurance

COVID-19 catalyses insurance innovation

But in Africa, there is more at stake A key imperative identified by our deep-dive studies across four sub-Saharan African countries was that for the insurance sector to contribute to sustainable development, policymakers and regulators need to take a more active role in leading and enabling innovation in their markets. Never has this imperative been truer than now – as the world is

Holistic interventions for MSME resilience 
MSMEs, Ecosystems & Economic Opportunity

Holistic interventions for MSME resilience 

A guidebook using nine Asian countries (Cambodia, India, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam) under the GIZ Integrated Climate and Disaster Risk Management Framework.  Micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of many economies globally. They contribute considerably to economic growth, employment and innovation. The IFC estimates that MSMEs account

From product provider to trusted risk advisor
MSMEs, Ecosystems & Economic Opportunity

From product provider to trusted risk advisor

Unlocking the SME insurance market through a holistic approach to building resilience. I recently moved into an apartment above a popular Cape Town restaurant, the owner of which is also my landlord. Last week, the restaurant had a major leak that took a plumber three days to fix. Fixing a

African insurance market
Payments & Remittances

Building African insurance market resilience

The need to build greater resilience in Africa and globally has been clearly demonstrated by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our society. The insurance industry has not been unaffected; work Cenfri did with OESAI and FSD Africa in June indicated that over 60% of insurers experienced a

Africa’s insurance fails to deliver on COVID-19
Payments & Remittances

Africa’s insurance fails to deliver on COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the need for the African insurance sector to demonstrate its critical role in supporting people and businesses. The pandemic has been the most severe risk event in Africa in years, but many insurers have not delivered on their promise. If the sector

MSME microinsurance
MSMEs, Ecosystems & Economic Opportunity

Managing risks (more) effectively: Rethinking insurance for MSMEs 

MSMEs form the backbone of many economies globally and give rise to economic growth, employment and innovation. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the extreme vulnerability of MSMEs to exogenous shocks and risks. However, the uptake and use of insurance remains extremely low for this group. In sub- Saharan Africa, it