Very simply, microinsurance refers to the provision of insurance to lower-income households. If appropriately designed and intermediated, such products can play an important role in reducing vulnerability for the poor as well as presenting profitable markets for commercial insurers.

Cenfri staff members have done extensive work on the regulation and development of microinsurance markets in Africa (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), Latin America (Brazil, Colombia and Mexico) and Asia (China, India, Pakistan and Philippines).

Key projects in this theme area include:

• Cenfri has been responsible for conducting, overseeing and/or managing microinsurance diagnostics in Brazil, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, the Philippines, South Africa and Zambia. Microinsurance diagnostics typically cover demand, supply and regulatory issues in a country, as well as a sufficient understanding of the broader economic and financial sector context within which the insurance sector will develop. Our clients and funders have included donor entities (e.g. UNCDF, ILO, World Bank, FMT Trust, FSD Kenya, ADB, GIZ etc.,) industry bodies (e.g. CNSeg) and government departments (e.g. Registrar of Insurance and Retirement Funds, Swaziland).
• Cenfri in collaboration with University of Stellenbosch’s Business School Executive Development (USB-ED) presented a Programme in Microinsurance Business Strategies for African Markets. The programme was designed to provide participants (practitioners and regulators from across Africa) with a thorough understanding of microinsurance issues and business strategies for African markets. This programme will be repeated on an open enrolment basis annually and in-house training sessions will be hosted intermittently for retailers and insurance companies.
• Cenfri was commissioned by the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) Microinsurance Innovation Facility (MIF) to conduct a three part study on innovative microinsurance distribution models. The first leg of the study consisted of a global scan for passive distribution models. During the second leg Cenfri conducted and commissioned case studies on innovative distribution models in Brazil and Colombia. Lastly, Cenfri compared the Brazilian and Colombian models with existing case studies on South Africa (compiled by Cenfri for the FMT Trust) and India in order to create a typology for alternative microinsurance distribution channels and extract cross-cutting lessons on successes and failures.
• Cenfri was commissioned by the ILO’s MIF to conduct a review of the South African Insurance Association’s (SAIA) various consumer education projects. It was envisioned that the review would add to a growing body of experiences on financial education in the insurance sector.
• Cenfri was commissioned by the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) initiative to explore opportunities for insurance inclusion in Nigeria by analysing the EFInA Access to Finance in Nigeria 2010 survey.
• Cenfri has been commissioned by the FinMark Trust to explore opportunities for insurance inclusion in South Africa by analysing the FinScope 2006 – 2010 surveys.
• Cenfri staff compiled and conducted a microinsurance exposure tour to Brazil and Mexico. The purpose of the tour was to expose top management of an insurance company and retailer to best practices in retailer-led microinsurance distribution.
• Cenfri was commissioned by the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) to review their consumer education initiative.
• Cenfri was commissioned by the ILO’s MIF to conduct a mid-term review of an innovation grant awarded to a South African insurance company. The review considers the learning related to client value, product development, actuarial pricing and distribution derived from interventions funded under an innovation grant awarded by the ILO.
• Cenfri was commissioned by the FinMark Trust to compile a study on innovation within the South African microinsurance landscape.
• Cenfri conducted a study tour for the Brazilian Insurance sector (including regulators and private sector representatives) on microinsurance in South Africa.
• Cenfri (on behalf of FinMark Trust) managed an IAIS-CGAP Joint Working Group on Micro-insurance (JWGMI) project to develop principles for the regulation of microinsurance. In-country work was conducted in Colombia, India, the Philippines, South Africa and Uganda. Cenfri staff was responsible for managing and mentoring the various in-country consultants, led the consulting teams for South Africa and Uganda and were also responsible for developing the synthesis findings and guidelines.
• Cenfri staff supported the development of the National Treasury’s Policy Document on "The South African Microinsurance Regulatory Framework". This was based on five years of work for the FinMark Trust covering various aspects of insurance markets in Southern Africa and included a review of the regulation of formal and informal funeral insurance markets in South Africa; research into the regulatory and market challenges facing the intermediation of microinsurance in South Africa; research into retailer distribution of microinsurance and research into the emerging new microinsurance intermediary models and the reasons for varying success.

Cenfri has also been appointed to manage FinMark Trust research theme area on microinsurance (including health).