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South Asia
31
Jan

Exploring insurtech’s competitiveness and cross-industry relevance in South-East Asia and Africa

IFC recently concluded two regional insurtech mapping studies in Africa and South-East Asia. The studies provided useful insights on industry trends and investable opportunities. Insurtech is reimagining insurance for incumbent (re)insurers and customers. Key trends include data-driven process optimization, industry-agnostic product development and cloud-based platforms . Usage-based personalized products and personalized customer service platforms such as offered by Naked Insurance are industry-agnostic and provide a large value add applicable across various insurance sectors. Remote claims
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Looking East: Lessons for Nigerian Insurers from Kenya’s Digital Insurance Ecosystem
28
Jan

Looking East: Lessons for Nigerian Insurers from Kenya’s Digital Insurance Ecosystem

Anne Wangalachi
During December 5 – 8, 2022, a delegation of seven Nigerian industry experts were on a learning mission in Kenya. The study tour was organized as part of the GIIF South-South knowledge exchange effort for incumbent insurers transitioning to digital insurers. The delegates work towards transforming Nigeria’s insurance industry through the agile design, promotion and adoption of insurtech to increase the protection cover for millions of Nigerians. This was the second phase of the Neo Insurer Training Initiative (NITI). The study tour took the delegates to Safaricom, APA Insurance, ACRE Africa
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AI-powered soil testing amplifies farmer productivity and climate resilience in Ethiopia
27
Jan

AI-powered soil testing amplifies farmer productivity and climate resilience in Ethiopia

By Anne Wangalachi and William Mulehi
What if there was a solution to help farmers take the guesswork out of what to plant in their fields and how to optimally nourish it based on the soil nutrient profile? This is precisely what Omishtu-Joy is providing to smallholders in Ethiopia. Omishtu-Joy, which means “Joy of the Farmer” in Afaan Oromo (a native Ethiopian dialect), has developed a soil testing device that uses artificial intelligence (AI)-powered sensors to measure different soil parameters. These soil fertility parameters include pH levels, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, humidity, radiation, temperature and soil
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IFC brought together leading insurers and regulators from across Africa to build farmer resilience

IFC brought together leading insurers and regulators from across Africa to build farmer resilience

Published on:
Financial inclusion is critical to development in Africa. Yet, many smallholder farmers and micro, small & medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs ) on the continent have limited access to financial products, including climate-resilient microinsurance and other insurance services. Past December 2022, IFC - International Finance Corporation convened representatives from Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to discuss building the capacity of companies and regulators to design agricultural insurance products and best practices for assessing the insurance value of smallholder
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DRC: Creating crop insurance market and protecting smallholders’ farmers

DRC: Creating crop insurance market and protecting smallholders’ farmers

Author:
Tenin Fatimata Dicko, Financial Sector Specialist
Located in the heart of Africa, with a land surface area of 2.3 million km2, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with rich soil and subsoil; over 80 million ha of fertile and arable land and 52 percent of all freshwater resources in SSA. Agriculture accounts for about 20 percent of GDP and employs some 70-75 percent of the economically active population[1]. DRC could potentially feed the entire African continent, yet it is currently unable to adequately feed its own population. The immense potential of the agricultural sector as a vehicle
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Developing Agriculture Insurance to Protect Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe
23
Jul

Developing Agriculture Insurance to Protect Smallholder Farmers in Zimbabwe

Selin Konrat; Sharon Adhiambo Onyango
Well-designed insurance programs can help to improve farmers’ resilience, access to finance, and high-quality inputs. To this end, IFC and Zimbabwe's insurance regulator, the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC), issued a press release highlighting their collaboration to create a market for agricultural insurance products in Zimbabwe. The goal is to protect smallholder farmers against weather-related crop damage and other shocks. Through this project, the team will assess the risks faced by smallholder farmers, and their coping mechanisms, and also evaluate the farmers' appetite for
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Dissemination Workshop: Madagascar Agriculture Insurance Diagnostic

Dissemination Workshop: Madagascar Agriculture Insurance Diagnostic

25
Jul
The agriculture and agro-processing sectors are the mainstay of Madagascar’s economy, accounting for about 24 percent of GDP in 2020. About 80 percent of the country’s population is involved in agriculture. However, due to its geographical location, Madagascar is largely affected by natural disasters, including droughts, cyclones, and floods, which threaten agricultural productivity. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is organizing a workshop to disseminate key results of the Madagascar Agriculture Insurance Diagnostic in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
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VIDEO: GIIF’s Africa AgTech & Inclusive Insurance Challenge - Nairobi 2022

Topics:
General
The Global Index Insurance Facility picked up valuable moments and testimonials from donors, guest speakers, and participants at the Africa AgTech & Inclusive Insurance Challenge hosted at Sankalp 2022, which took place last month in Kenya, Nairobi. “This was a great opportunity for start-ups in this space to collaborate with IFC and its partners and bring to the fore game-changing ideas that will contribute to the transformation of Africa’s agricultural sector”, said Fatou Assah, GIIF Program Manager. Click here to watch the extended version of the wrap-up video.
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Africa AgTech & Inclusive Insurance Challenge: 5 Finalists

Africa AgTech & Inclusive Insurance Challenge: 5 Finalists

Author:
GIIF
In March 2022, in a joint effort, the Sankalp Forum and the IFC’s Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), ran the Africa AgTech & Inclusive Insurance Challenge aimed to celebrate and support young entrepreneurs who are working at the intersection of agriculture, insurance, climate, and gender to build resilience for smallholder farmers. Together, they identified 5 of the most promising AgTech enterprises who are looking to scale their innovative solutions that are driving agriculture resilience across sub-Saharan Africa. “The role of technology and innovation will be critical to driving growth
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Moroccan and Ghanaian MSME Resilience in the face of COVID-19

Moroccan and Ghanaian MSME Resilience in the face of COVID-19

Date:
Author:
GIZ
Topics:
Market Development
Enabling Policy Environment
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Allianz RE joined forces to support vulnerable communities in Morocco and Ghana in developing integrated risk management approaches for climate risks. In Morocco, the implemented risk management activities of this Public-Private Partnership are targeted at Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) located in Industrial Zones (IZ). The Ait Melloul Industrial Park was selected as a pilot IZ, because it has an economic value for the
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