Insurance inclusion: Swiss Re Foundation raises $0.5million grant to fund innovation for rural communities

The Swiss Re Foundation has announced a US$500,000 grant to spur innovation of insurance products for the underserved communities in Africa in the wake of rising risks.

Report noted that the funding, which will be distributed through FSD Africa’s supported BimaLab insurance accelerator programme, will help promising insurtechs to introduce and scale up innovative products targeting low-income groups, currently left out by existing insurance products.

“We acknowledge the role of the insurance sector in spurring the growth and development of the African continent. Through programmes such as BimaLab, the most vulnerable and low-income people will gain from the innovative, affordable and efficient insurance products and services,” said Stefan Huber Fux, director of Swiss Re Foundation.

The programme will help turn validated insurance-focused ideas to market and investor-ready and provide innovators with enabling regulatory environment for developing their ideas, according to the brief by the Foundation.

The foundation, started by Swiss Re in October 2011 to, among other goals, support innovations that boost societal resilience, had issued grants in 44 countries by 2021 and made $86.6m commitments between 2012 and 2021.

The Swiss Re Foundation grant will help define a path for scaling the BimaLab from three to ten countries, thereby allowing a deeper dive and creating a mechanism for continued technical support and funding.

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