More than 30 participants from seven African nations gathered in Johannesburg for two weeks in October 2016 to focus on the fundamentals of index insurance, and to discuss a wide array of development-related topics ranging from product design to project management. The workshop, entitled “Agriculture Insurance Training,” was organized by the World Bank Group’s Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF). Co-managed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), GIIF provides smallholder farmers, rural residents, microentrepreneurs and microfinance institutions with access to finance through the

In a case study, GIIF's Partner ACRE Africa reports that the project has helped Edward and Pauline Mkopi in Kenya protect their crops with weather index, area yield, and hybrid insurance. After several seasons of drought and excess rainfall, the Mkopis say "they now confidently invest in their maize and sunflower farm because they know they are insured against all kinds of risk." They also feel confident in working with ACRE Africa because the product relies on accurate data to determine how to do payouts.

Munich Re Foundation and Microinsurance Network have released a report that provides an insight on Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) as a distribution channel for microinsurance in Asia. " The study shows that there are an estimated 2.6 billion SIM cards activated through various carriers in the Asian region. Two Technical Service Providers (TSPs), BIMA and MicroEnsure, and eight MNOs which carry out distribution of Mobile Microinsurance (MMI) were identified in the region. The total number of lives covered, through these MNOs, stood at a total of 40.3 million by mid-2016, based on available

Munich Re Foundation and Microinsurance Network have released a report on t he Landscape of Microinsurance in The landscape of microinsurance in Sri Lanka . " Microinsurance in Sri Lanka initially started as a service to support the microfinance sector, focusing on providing loan protection, insurance and life savings. The insurance business extended their services to provide welfare and health products to low-income people. With almost 24% of the population living on less than USD 2 a day (World Bank Statistics, 2015), it was found that health is the largest risk faced by poor households

A newly designed Global Index Insurance Facility's Country Profile for Sri Lanka is available for digital viewing . The document contains an overview of GIIF's project in Sri Lanka and partner, Sanasa Insurance Company Ltd. (SICL).