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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying containment and mitigation measures have affected and disrupted the operations of industries around the globe. This report explores the impact of COVID-19 on the Rwanda insurance sector Rwanda was the first African country to implement a national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Lockdown measures included the closure and suspension
The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying restrictions by many governments across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have forced insurance providers, insurance regulators and consumers to rethink how they interact and maintain operations through this period. At Cenfri, through our RRI programme funded by FSD Africa, we are identifying and tracking the major challenges faced by both
The Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) recently published the report, “Evolving insurance supervisory mandates in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – implications for data practices.” The report marks the first part of a project by the A2ii and Cenfri, in partnership with FSD Africa and together with a Steering Group comprising supervisors from seven jurisdictions: Ghana,
COVID-19 containment and mitigation measures in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have restricted the movement of people, goods and services. This has affected insurers’ operations, which, to a large extent, have traditionally required physical engagement. It is also affecting insurers’ ability to launch new products, conclude new sales, collect premiums, service existing
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
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
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
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
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
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
The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying containment and mitigation measures have affected and disrupted the operations of industries around the globe. This report explores the impact of COVID-19 on the Rwanda insurance sector Rwanda was the first African country to implement a national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Lockdown measures included the closure and suspension
The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying restrictions by many governments across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have forced insurance providers, insurance regulators and consumers to rethink how they interact and maintain operations through this period. At Cenfri, through our RRI programme funded by FSD Africa, we are identifying and tracking the major challenges faced by both
The Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) recently published the report, “Evolving insurance supervisory mandates in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – implications for data practices.” The report marks the first part of a project by the A2ii and Cenfri, in partnership with FSD Africa and together with a Steering Group comprising supervisors from seven jurisdictions: Ghana,
COVID-19 containment and mitigation measures in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have restricted the movement of people, goods and services. This has affected insurers’ operations, which, to a large extent, have traditionally required physical engagement. It is also affecting insurers’ ability to launch new products, conclude new sales, collect premiums, service existing
