Microinsurance may support poverty alleviation by protecting the assets, income and productivity of low-income households. This study considers the potential role, opportunities and challenges for developing a microinsurance market in Ethiopia. The aim of the study is to develop as comprehensive as possible an information base of the current market dynamics as well as an assessment of the opportunities and challenges for microinsurance in Ethiopia.

The case studies presented in this document on alternative, innovative microinsurance distribution models in Colombia form part of a series of case studies prepared for the ILO’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility. The purpose of the case studies is to review the success and development of alternative microinsurance models that have been developed during the last few years.

A current project in Milliman’s MicroAssist initiative is helping Ethiopian insurance organizations put in place actuarial standards for pricing microinsurance products. Milliman undertook this project in cooperation with the Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labor Organization (ILO). The article discusses the government’s involvement in microinsurance.

Until about 2007, microinsurance in India was a state-run initiative with limited scope and coverage. However, as an initiative developed by Financial Inclusion Network and Operations Ltd. (FINO) and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, biometric-based smart card insurance was offered to the target group in rural India.

This case study reflects on regulatory developments in the South African microinsurance market intended to better protect lower income consumers of insurance and extracts learning in this regard that can inform other jurisdictions embarking on a similar path. The study provides a snapshot of the existing microinsurance market in South Africa, taking into account the degree of financial inclusion, typical products and which entities provide them, and the regulatory landscape.