The Landscape series is forging new ground by helping policy makers base financial inclusion decisions on accurate information about who in the world’s population is excluded and what can be done to address this urgent global issueAccording to the Landscape of Microinsurance 2022 Study, compiled by the Microinsurance Network, up to 223 million people are covered by a microinsurance product in the 34 participating countries surveyed. The most prevalent are life, credit life and health products. But while the value of the microinsurance market is estimated to be USD 61.8 billion, only 7% is currently captured. There is clear scope for growth.

This guidance sheet is one of a series of tools written to support SDC staff and partners in designing and implementing projects aimed at financial inclusion. It outlines key issues regarding inclusive agricultural insurance and how to promote this approach within the overall framework of inclusive insurance throughout the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of cooperation strategies and project interventions. >> here

SCBF has awarded grant funding to World Vision and VisionFund International to pilot the provision of insurance services to underserved populations in Ghana and Malawi.

The project will provide informal savings groups with insurance services that cover accidents, healthcare needs and lost income due to hospitalisation for group members and their dependents. When the project is fully rolled out, more than 87’000 Ghanaians and 272’625 Malawians will have access to insurance. >> more

Covid-19 is a new acute threat to the well-being of low- and middle-income households in developing countries. It adds to the list of insurable risks which force households into poverty and creates heightened global insurance demand. Nepal has 46’257 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of 7 September 2020. As in other countries, the actual number of Covid-19 cases is likely to be higher than the officially reported number.

Currently, the main constraint in terms of responding to demand is on the supply side. The Nepali insurance sector is small with an estimated 17.5% of the population having some form of insurance, and most low-income households do not have access to insurance at all. The current Covid-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for local insurance companies and e-Health service companies to work together to offer critical risk protection products to the Nepali public related to Covid-19, while establishing a platform to expand insurance in the market.

In response to Covid-19, the SCBF product upscaling project supports the local insurtech company Stonestep TFD Nepal to implement an e-Health Value Added Service (VAS) product with two core features: e-health tele-consultation bundled with Covid-19 insurance. The e-Health VAS will be offered via outbound SMS and in-App notifications to customers registered with the mobile money partner, DigiPay Mobile Money, and TDO Nepal will provide the online health content and telephonic doctor consultations, as well as distribution. This is a first-of-its-kind product that will improve the resilience of low- and middle-income families in Nepal. Women are particularly vulnerable to the current Covid-19 pandemic, especially when they are the key person in the household who takes care of the sick and elderly, as well as the well-being and nutrition of their children – when falling sick, the whole family is affected.

The e-Health VAS product will be promoted in urban / peri-urban areas in Kathmandu valley before expanding geographically to rural areas. A projected 5’000 clients will be enrolled by the end of the project in May 2021. DigiPay and TDO Nepal have combined over 50’000 customers, but the goal is to find additional distribution partners, so that the outreach will be even higher.

Since 2018, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have explored how the global mutual and cooperative industry can build resilience and deliver inclusive insurance solutions in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This webinar presented how the mutual and cooperative sector has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in emerging markets, and what is being done to promote development through insurance and risk finance. (recorded in June 2020/ duration 1 hour) >> here