Very simply, microinsurance refers to insurance for lower-income households. If appropriately designed and intermediated such products can play an important role in reducing vulnerability for the poor and it could also present profitable markets for commercial insurers.

Cenfri staff have done extensive work on the regulation and development of microinsurance markets in South Africa but also globally (covering Botswana, Brazil, Colombia, Namibia, India, Philippines, Swaziland, Uganda).

Key projects on this theme area include:

• Cenfri is leading a review on the opportunities and challenges for microinsurance development in Zambia. This review is funded by the UNCDF/ILO and FinMark Trust Zambia.  
• Cenfri is leading a review on the opportunities and challenges for microinsurance development in Ethiopia. This review is funded by the UNCDF and ILO. 
• 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 during 2007 and the general principles and findings are currently being drafted. Cenfri staff was responsible for managing and mentoring the various in-country consultants, led the consulting teams for South Africa and Uganda and are also responsible to develop the synthesis findings and guidelines.
• Cenfri staff supported the development of the South African discussion paper on "The Future of Micro-insurance Regulation in South Africa". This was based on 5 years of work for the FinMark Trust covering various aspects of insurance markets in Southern African 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).