India: seminar on social marketing in microinsurance
The College of Insurance, the training arm of Insurance Institute of India (III), is organising a seminar on 'Social Marketing: Ideation to Implementation (Focus: Microinsurance)' on 30th and 31st May, 2013 at Hotel Vivanta in Mumbai.
The Seminar is being conducted by College of Insurance along with the General Insurance Council and the Life Insurance Council. Seniors from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and the insurance industry will be participating. Ms. Nancy Lee will be the main speaker of the seminar along with Ms. Letícia Gonçalves, an ILO MI Fellow, working in Guatemala in the field of Microinsurance.
The end objective of this seminar is to use marketing concepts and techniques in a systematic manner to achieve specific goals for a "social good".
For further information, please consult the brochure. To register to the event and/or become a sponsor, please consult the registration form and the flyer. The registration deadline is 24th May, 2013.
For further details, contact Dr. George E Thomas.
India: practical financial solutions to urban poverty
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
How do Indian families living in urban poverty approach health care? To answer this question and better understand how to structure a customized emergency health loan product for India’s urban poor, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation recently commissioned a study of families in five Mumbai slums.
The research, conducted between December 20, 2012 and February 8, 2013, surveyed members of 545 low-income households located close to hospitals. The key findings of the study clearly underline the health needs of the urban poor population of India and financial barriers to accessing health services.
Given the right insights, Indian entrepreneurs and established financial service providers have an opportunity to tap this underserved market and design a product that would have a positive impact on the lives of the urban poor in India.
Read the article here.
View the research paper here.
Microinsurance: a holistic approach is needed
Insurance companies are looking for feasible ways to provide coverage to rural populations living below the poverty line. As their role is to cover the risk or probability of loss of a particular asset, whether that asset is one’s home, business, health, or even one’s life, they promise to provide compensation if the asset is lost; in exchange the client pays a fixed price or premium to the insurance company over a period of time.
However, insuring the disadvantaged and rural poor is riskier than insuring urban and middle-class clients for reasons such as the variability of the income and the increased vulnerability; thus, insurance for the poor needs to be approached holistically, in collaboration with governments, and embedded with other risk management solutions.
This points is highlited by Tabea Goldboom, in her article ‘Microinsurance as a Liberal Market Approach to Social Protection? A Second Look ‘ on the UNRISD website, and by Brajeshwar Nath in his article ‘A Closer Look at Microinsurance’ on the Fair Observer website.
Madagascar: Technical Assistant for urban microinsurance project
Inter Aide is looking for a Technical Assistant for an urban microinsurance project. Inter Aide is a health microinsurance program created in 2007 in Antananarivo (Madagascar), that aims to provide a response to the problems that disadvantaged families encounter while accessing health care. The program aims to reduce the vulnerability of the families that suffer financial shocks regarding health problems. It allows to direct the attention of the families towards hygiene and health, and to direct the patients to quality health facilities.
The main responsibilities of the technical assistant will cover developping the program for families from poor neighboorhoods of Antananarivo, as well as ensuring the reinforcement of the competencies of the director of the Malagasy branch.
For more details regarding the responsibilities and requirements, click here.
Apply with your CV and cover letter with the reference MUT/TANA at interaide(at)interaide.org.
Philippines: Basic microinsurance training course for rural banks
RBAP-RBRDFI is organising the 22nd Basic Microinsurance Training Course on May 28-29, 2013, in Manila, Philippines.
This activity aims to enhance the capacity of rural banks to serve as effective access points for microinsurance services for its low-income clients. This training is also designed to ensure bank compliance with the following regulations:
- BSP Circular 683-2010: Marketing, Sale and Servicing of Microinsurance Products
- Joint IC-CDA-SEC Memo Circular 1-2010: Defining Government’s Policy on Informal Microinsurance Services
- Insurance Commission Memo Circular 1-2010: Regulations for the Provision of Microinsurance Products and Services (i.e. Institutional MI Brokers and Agents)
For more information on fees and registration, click here.
Senegal: the first microinsurance health pool
AgenceEcofin.com; SudOnline.sn; SeneNews.com
In order to reach 80% of the Senegalese that do not benefit from medical coverage Cnart Assurances, Askia Assurances, Nsia Sénégal, Cga Assurances, FSSA Assurances and Salama Assurances joined forces to form the Microinsurance Health Pool (Pool Micro Assurance Santé – PMAS). The aim of PMAS is to bring the health coverage of the Senegalese population to 50% by 2015, by proposing four microinsurance products to the professional groups in the informal sector.
 Officially launched on Friday, May 3, 2013, at Dakar, the director of PMAS proposes four services: ‘karangue’ providing support for surgeries, ‘Baneex’ providing support for health centres, ‘kheweul’ providing support for hospitals and health centres, and ‘school product’ for students.
India: MicroSave seeks interns
MicroSave is a consultancy firm and training provider that focuses on the needs of institutions targeting under-served and unserved populations and enterprises. It assists institutions such as financial service providers, telecom operators, technology service providers, fast moving consumer goods companies, livelihood institutions, and development agencies serving the base of the pyramid. MicroSave provides practical, market-led solutions based on the experiences drawn from working with a variety of institutions.
The main responsibility of the intern will be to study the microinsurance regulations, industry practices, and trends and performances of several Asian countries. The type of products will range from life, health, disaster, index-based, and livestock insurance products. He/She will work under the guidance of senior level consultants and will interact with industry leaders in the field. The intern is also expected to maintain contacts, prepare online interview questionnaires, and analyse interview responses in a suitable and high quality manner.
For more information on the tasks and responsibilities, click here
Apply with your resume by May 15, 2013, to the MicroSave HR Department
Madagascar: Microinsurance project manager wanted
PlaNet Finance’s mission is helping the poor by developing activities that enable them to generate revenue in an autonomous way, with the aim of improving their living conditions. With a worldwide network of 122 experts, active in almost 50 countries, PlaNet Finance offers consulting services and technical assistance to microfinance actors in order to improve their financial and social performance, as well as support programs for microentrepreneurs.
The project ‘Zina’, launched in May 2010, aims to suggest solution regarding the health coverage in Madagascar, where a small part of the population has access to insurance services.
The project manager is being recruited for the second phase of the project (from May 2013 to April 2016). He/she will have as objective to expand and make viable the systems devised in the first phase of the project.
He/she should be familiar with issues related to human development and the fight against poverty, have a good knowledge of the mechanisms of micro-insurance and, if possible have experience with health insurance.
Apply with your CV and cover letter by 25th of June 2013.
Uganda: Insurance Regulatory Authority adopts risk-based supervision
According to Making Finance Work for Africa, the objective of the risk-based supervision is to ensure that insurance players maintain adequate capital levels to meet the risks they face while allowing the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) to allot more time to supervision of riskier sector players.
Kadunabbi Lubega, the IRA executive director, states that shifting from compliance-based supervision to risk-based supervision will make the local insurance sector as strong as insurance sectors in other countries in the international arena.
Read the article here.
Allnations invests into Garantie Mutuelle des Cadres to assist distribution of microinsurance in Cameroon
ICMIF website
At the end of April 2013, Allnations, the capital support facility of ICMIF, completed its fifth investment into a member organisation. Garantie Mutuelle des Cadres (GMC) has been granted a loan of USD 300,000 to assist the distribution of microinsurance in Cameroon.
Since its creation in 1991, the GMC has always designed innovative products for individuals, suitable for both executives and the low income population; it launched its product called “FAS” (Fund for Aid and Solidarity) to cover hospitalization and death for families of up to twelve people. The minimum annual contribution to cover the whole family under this product is US$12 in case of death and US$24 for hospitalization.
Picture (left to right): Mr John Balmforth (Chairman of the Allnations Board) and Mr Jean-Victor Ngue (CEO, GMC, Cameroon).
Read article here.
Microinsurance offers hope for Swazi insurance industry
News-insurances.co.uk
The Swazi insurance industry is still in its developmental stages, struggling to overcome low penetration rates and dependence on Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts. Despite this, the recovery in global financial markets has driven growth in the non-life sector, whilst a push for micro-insurance products is hoping to support industry growth by broadening its clientele.
More than 60% of Swaziland’s annual government revenue comes from SACU receipts, inextricably linking the fortunes of Swazi industry with the broader SACU group. When 2011 brought a significant decline in SACU revenues, and saw weaknesses in its expenditure controls exploited, it precipitated a severe financial crisis for Swaziland. Consequently, its insurance industry declined from a CAGR of 27.2% in 2010 to 7.3% in 2011.
The Registrar of Insurance and Retirement Funds (RIRF) commissioned the Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (CENFRI) to conduct research, explore opportunities and determine any challenges for Swaziland’s insurance industry. The recommendation of the research was the promotion of micro-insurance, which opens up large sectors of the Swazi population who hitherto were inappropriate targets for insurers as a result of their low income.
Read the article here.
Nigeria: Microfinance bank established to drive microinsurance
BusinessDayNigeria.com
Mr Akin Ogunbiyi, Managing Director at Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc., announced that the company had established a microfinance bank to drive its micro insurance businesses. According to the article published on BusinessDayNigeria.com, it offers micro insurance products as low as N50, making them affordable and able to meet the needs of the people.
Ogunbiyi said that the National Insurance Commission gave approval for the company to invest in the microfinance bank since the objective is to drive micro insurance. The investment made on the day of the announcement is for about 65,000 individual policies.
Read article
India: study on barriers to crop microinsurance
 India is a pioneer in microinsurance and one of the first countries that formally regulated its microinsurance sector: around 50% of the total population covered by microinsurance worldwide lives in India. Agriculture is important for India’s GDP, accounting for about 13%. Also, over 80% of agricultural land is highly rainfall dependent and farmers constantly battle against crop failures caused by weather vagaries, rising costs of cultivation, pest attacks etc. Thus, the need for evolving an adequate, sustainable risk management system has been duly recognised.
An article by Janani A Ramasubramanian on Livemint.com, reports on a study conducted in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu, where farmers have had no prior experience with index-based insurance policies. The study examined crop microinsurance uptake on two different levels: the willingness to participate in formal market-based insurance schemes, and the amount of money a household was willing to pay for these schemes.
The results of the study showed that the majority of the respondents are inclined to join microinsurance programmes, but the amount of money they are willing to pay for these schemes is lowered by the extent to which they have access to other agriculture risk coping mechanisms such as savings, borrowings, diversification etc.
It appears that the awareness of insurance products was high, but the comfort level for such products was low. The study found there was greater reliance on existing tools that farm households have tapped into for generations.
The study concludes that crop microinsurance provides a hedge against agriculture losses and it could encourage farmers to use better quality inputs and follow better methods of production, thus increasing acreage in the long run. In order for this to happen, conscious effort towards planning, designing and implementation of relevant crop insurance products at the grass root level are an immediate requirement.
Read article
Mutual insurers emerge from economic crisis with increase in market share
According to Microinsurance.coop, the latest research from ICMIF’s Shared Intelligence department shows how the mutual and cooperative sectors in the UK, USA, Canada and Europe have all consistently and significantly outperformed the rest of the insurance market since the global financial crisis of 2007/08.
The Market InSights reports from ICMIF are a series of market-specific reports compiled using the latest data from ICMIF’s global Mutual Market Share research. The reports include a detailed analysis of the 5-year growth trends of mutual and cooperative insurance companies using financial data from 2007 to 2011.The reports also include a year-on-year analysis of the premium growth of mutual insurers since 2007, with comparison to the rest of the insurance sector, as well as data on growth by business line, asset growth with a definitive list of the largest mutual and cooperative insurers by 2011 premium income within each market.
Shaun Tarbuck, chief executive of ICMIF, explains that ICMIF members can use the data in their national or regional markets to publicise and explain the growth of the mutual insurance sector.
To view the reports click here
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</a>, is organising a seminar on <strong>'Social Marketing: Ideation to Implementation (Focus: Microinsurance)'</strong> on <strong>30th and 31st May, 2013</strong> at Hotel Vivanta in Mumbai.<img style='float: right; margin: 8px;' src='/image/india_seminar_social_marketing.jpg' alt='' width='200' height='287' /></p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>The Seminar is being conducted by College of Insurance along with the <a href='http://www.gicouncil.in/' target='_blank'>General Insurance Council</a> and the <a href='http://www.lifeinscouncil.org/' target='_blank'>Life Insurance Council</a>. Seniors from the <a href='http://www.irda.gov.in/Defaulthome.aspx?page=H1' target='_blank'>Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)</a> and the insurance industry will be participating. Ms. Nancy Lee will be the main speaker of the seminar along with Ms. Letícia Gonçalves, an <a href='http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/mifacility/' target='_blank'>ILO</a> MI Fellow, working in Guatemala in the field of Microinsurance.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>The end objective of this seminar is to use marketing concepts and techniques in a systematic manner to achieve specific goals for a 'social good'.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>For further information, please consult the <a href='/file/Social_Marketing_Brochure.pdf?PHPSESSID=ecdcd0fbfc09892b22e1866aead911f8' target='_blank'>brochure</a>. To register to the event and/or become a sponsor, please consult the <a href='/file/REGISTRATION_FORM.pdf?PHPSESSID=ecdcd0fbfc09892b22e1866aead911f8' target='_blank'>registration form</a> and the <a href='/file/III_Seminar_Social_Marketing_Flyer.pdf?PHPSESSID=ecdcd0fbfc09892b22e1866aead911f8' target='_blank'>flyer</a>. The registration deadline is 24th May, 2013.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>For further details, contact <a href='mailto:thomas@iii.org.in' target='_blank'>Dr. George E Thomas</a>.</p>){kind=link}
. The aim of PMAS is to bring the health coverage of the Senegalese population <span>to 50%</span> by 2015, by proposing four microinsurance products to the professional groups in the informal sector.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'><img style='margin: 8px; float: right;' src='/image/senegal.jpg' alt='' width='200' height='150' /><span style='text-align: justify;'>Officially launched on Friday, May 3, 2013, at Dakar, the director of PMAS proposes four services: ‘karangue’ providing support for surgeries, ‘Baneex’ providing support for health centres, ‘kheweul’ providing support for hospitals and health centres, and ‘school product’ for students.</span></p>
<div>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>The PMAS has benefited from financial support from a certain number of partners such as the <a href='http://www.afd.fr/home' target='_blank'>French Agency for Development</a>, the <a href='http://www.cidr.org/' target='_blank'>CIDR</a> and the <a href='http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/mifacility/activities/innovation.htm' target='_blank'>International Labour Organisation Innovation Grant</a>.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>Read the articles on <a href='http://www.agenceecofin.com/assurance/0605-10706-six-assureurs-senegalais-forment-un-pool-de-micro-assurance-sante-pour-le-secteur-informel' target='_blank'>AgenceEcofin.com</a>, <a href='http://www.sudonline.sn/six-assureurs-lancent-le-pool-micro-assurance-sante_a_13635.html' target='_blank'>SudOnline.sn</a>, and <a href='http://www.senenews.com/2013/05/03/le-premier-pool-de-micro-assurance-sante-lance-au-senegal_57953.html' target='_blank'>SeneNews.com</a>.</p>
</div>){kind=link}
 has been granted a loan of USD 300,000 to assist the distribution of microinsurance in Cameroon.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'><img style='margin: 8px; float: right;' src='/image/JohnbalmforthandJVNgue.jpg' alt='' width='226' height='150' /></p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>Since its creation in 1991, the GMC has always designed innovative products for individuals, suitable for both executives and the low income population; it launched its product called “FAS” (Fund for Aid and Solidarity) to cover hospitalization and death for families of up to twelve people. The minimum annual contribution to cover the whole family under this product is US$12 in case of death and US$24 for hospitalization.</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'>Picture (left to right): Mr John Balmforth (Chairman of the Allnations Board) and Mr Jean-Victor Ngue (CEO, GMC, Cameroon).</p>
<p style='text-align: justify;'><a href='http://www.microinsurance.coop/news/allnations-finalises-its-investment-into-gmc-to-assist-distribution-of-microinsurance-in-cameroon' target='_blank'>Read article here</a>.</p>){kind=link}
