ICII 2022
© Munich Re Foundation

International Conference on Inclusive Insurance
Agenda

#ICII2023

Please click on the session title to view details, presentations and recordings of the sessions. Click on the speaker's name to read their profile.

Day 1 - 23 October 2023 - Pre-conference workshops

Hosted by ILO

Speaker:

Lisa Morgan
Technical Specialist, Actuary, ILO's Impact Insurance Facility, Switzerland

Pranav Prashad
Senior Technical Officer, ILO's Impact Insurance Facility, Switzerland

Marieme Ba
Managing Director, Cabinet Africain de Solutions d’Assurances Inclusives, Senegal

Sukirti Vinayak
Director, Strategy & Research, PULA, Kenya

  

Facilitator:

Craig Churchill
Chief, Social Finance, ILO, Switzerland

  

This pre-conference session aims at providing an intorduction to key challenges and opportunities of inclusive insurance. It will create a space to network espeially among those who are rather new to the topic as well as to the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance.

Hosted by FinProbity Solutions

Speakers:

Lorenzo Chan
CEO, Pioneer Insurance Group and Chair of the Board of the Microinsruance Network, Philippines

Agnes Chakonta
Managing Director, Madison Life, Zambia

Saurabh Sharma
Director Emerging Consumers, Britam, Kenya

Dorothy Salifu
Head of Operations, Hollard Life, Ghana

Facilitator:

Lemmy Manje
CEO, FinProbity Solutions, Rwanda/ Zambia

  

The workshop presents insights on strategies and business models from successful inclusive insurance providers. This interactive work retreat is designed for CEOs or senior executives in insurance companies who interested increasing their investments and footprint in inclusive insurance business. The sessions aim to demonstrate how inclusive insurance providers can make inclusive insurance viable and profitable while providing superior client value for their customers.  

The retreat will address the following:  

  • What business strategies can be employed by market players to achieve better results in inclusive insurance business?  
  • What organizational structure is ideal for pushing inclusive insurance in a company?  
  • What sort of institutional culture and work-style is ideal?  
  • How can shareholders support senior management in pushing inclusive insurance in insurance companies?

Hosted by A2ii, IAIS, MiN, IDF

  

Welcome remarks  

Michael Kofi Andoh
Acting Comissioner, NIC, Ghana

Facilitator:

Monica Odhiambo
Financial Analyst & Risk Manager, A2ii, Germany

  

Session 1:   Global initiatives – awareness & education  

Speakers:

Grace Muradzikwa
Commissioner IPEC, Zimbabwe

Astrid Zwick
Global Shield Co-Director, Global Shield Secretariat, Germany

Tomás Soley (online)
Superintendente General de Seguros y Valores, Costa Rica

Alistair Gough
Executive Coordinator, IAIS, Switzerland

Facilitator:

Sharon Sikhosana
A2ii regional coordinator SSA, Divisional Head - Insurance Supervision, Banking and Insurance Supervision Department, South African Reserve Bank, South Africa

  

Session 2:   Risk management and assessment  

Speakers:

Stuart Fraser (online)
Climate and disaster risk consultant, United Kingdom

Nick Moody
Director, Cerulean Consulting Services, United Kingdom

Facilitator:

Marike Brady
Deputy Managing Director, Microinsurance Centre at Milliman, United States

  

Session 3: Product innovation and technology

Speakers:

Dorien Asampana
Consultant, IBISA, Luxembourg

Carlos Boelsterli
CEO, MiCRO, United States

Andrea Camargo
Senior Risk Financing Specialist, WFP, Italy

Malieta Inoke
Country Coordinator, UNDP, Tonga

Facilitator:

Pedro Pinheiro
IDF Inclusive Insurance Project Manager, Microinsurance Network, Luxembourg

  

The devastating impact of climate change has already become a reality for many, and even more the most vulnerable societies and households. Addressing the widening protection gaps requires close collaboration between the public and private sector. Thus, bringing together key stakeholders to share their knowledge and experience in addressing climate change related risks is more important than ever.

The Consultative Forum 2023 will gather representatives of international initiatives, the insurance industry as well as policymakers and supervisors to jointly identify best practices, challenges and opportunities for developing and implementing insurance solutions that can promote financial resilience in the face of climate change and natural disaster.

The forum will start by looking at global initiatives like the Global Shield against Climate Risks and discuss the IAIS’ most recent work on NatCat Protection Gaps and supervisory approaches to help closing existing protection gaps. In addition, industry representatives will highlight the impact of new products and innovative services they have been developing to buffer the impact of climate change.   A special focus will be put on the topic of risk modelling since one of the key elements for the insurance industry, but also for policymakers and other decision-makers is quantifying risks arising from natural catastrophes. In the light of climate change, risk modelling becomes more challenging as relying on historical data is no longer enough. For this reason, the session on risk modelling during the CF will be complemented by a half-day online training event in November for supervisors to deepen their knowledge on the topic.

The event aims to produce a set of recommendations and best practices for addressing climate and disaster risks in inclusive insurance markets. These recommendations will be disseminated to the IAIS, A2ii, MiN and IDF networks and other stakeholders to inform policy and practice. In addition, the event will provide a platform for networking and knowledge exchange among participants, fostering collaboration and partnerships in this critical area.

  

Hosted by UNCDF/ILO/IFC

Speakers:

Fatou Giwa
Global Lead, Women's Insurance Program at IFC, Nigeria

Losana Kumar
Manager and Project Lead, Cane Cooperative Savings and Loans society (CCSLA), Fiji

Silia Tupou
Manager, Tonga Development Bank, Tonga

Belinda Ofori
Head of Direct Business and the Activ'Lady Programme, Activa International Insurance Company, Ghana

Veilawa Rereiwasaliwa
Director, Tower Group Services, Fiji

Olivia Vakaosooso
Financial & Digital Literacy Lead, UNCDF, Pacific

  

Facilitator:

Sinja Buri
Team Lead - Solutions & Practice Partnerships, Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) at UNU-EHS, Germany

Lisa Morgan
Technical Specialist, Actuary, ILO's Impact Insurance Facility, Switzerland

Katherine Nittany Baez Lebron
Women’s Insurance Specialist, IFC, United States

  

Women face higher risks and burdens through situations of poverty, an imbalance of household care duties, time poverty, unequal participation in decision-making, and a lack of resources, which increases their vulnerability. This is further exacerbated by deep-rooted gender inequalities due to socially constructed roles, gender norms, and traditions, amongst other factors.

During this engaging pre-conference workshop, we will explore:

  • How gendered social norms can affect the uptake of insurance by women
  • Overcoming the risks and barriers women face when trying to access and use insurance
  • Co-creation of a practical tool to help accelerate progress towards better serving the women’s insurance market

Day 2 - 24 October 2023

Welcome notes:

Michael Kofi Andoh  
Acting Comissioner, NIC, Ghana

Renate Bleich  
Chair, Munich Re Foundation, Germany

Katharine Pulvermacher  
Executive Director, Microinsurance Network, Luxemburg

Keynote:

Blaise Abel Ezo'o Engolo
Secrétaire Général, CIMA, Gabun

Guest of honor:

Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta
Minister of Finance, Republic of Ghana

Master of Ceremony:

NIC/ GIA (TBC)

  

  

  

Hosted by the Microinsurance Network

Speakers:

Lorenzo Chan
Group CEO, Pioneer Insurance and Chair of Microinsurance Network, Philippines

Nicolas Morales
Regional Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, Microinsurance Network, Colombia

Sosthenes Konutsey
Director and Head of Partnerships, BIMA, Ghana

Ewan Wheeler
CEO, ACRE Africa, Ghana

Facilitator:

Katharine Pulvermacher
Executive Director, Microinsurance Network, Luxemburg

  

The Landscape of Microinsurance research and insights series provide a unique global benchmark – tracking the uptake of inclusive insurance products and services, along with insights into emerging trends connected with closing the people protection gap. In this session, we will present the initial results of the Landscape of Microinsurance 2023 data collection exercise along with insights into the last three or four years of benchmarking. The session will be focusing the panel discussion on markets that are showing robust growth or that have been particularly successful at reaching scale for different product lines.

Hosted by NIC/GIA/UNDP

Speaker:

Michael Kofi Andoh
Acting Comissioner, National Insurance Commission (NIC), Ghana

Seth Kobla Aklasi
President of Donewell Insurance, GIA, Ghana

Representative from Nigeria (TBC)

Representative from Senegal (TBC)

  

Facilitator:

Miguel Solana
Inclusive Insurance Specialist, UNDP, Switzerland

  

This session will discuss opportunities and barriers for the development of inclusive insurance solutions in West Africa.

Speakers:

Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye  
CEO, National Health Insurance Authority, Ghana

Dr. Emmanuella Zamba  
CEO, Lagos State Health Management Agency, Nigeria

Dr. Mohammed Al Mafazy  
Head, ICT Unit at the Ministry of Health - Zanzibar, Tanzania

Dr. Olumide Okunola
Senior Health Financing Advisor, the World Bank, United Kingdom

Facilitator:

Dr. Kwasi Boahene  
Director Advocacy, PharmAccess Group, Netherlands

  

A pan-African panel of experts from public and private sectors will discuss inclusive African health insurance schemes, exploring partnerships and digital solutions to achieve UHC as part of the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.  

The panelists will focus on these key themes:  

  • Discuss the main challenges facing health insurance in LMICs, as well as the necessary public-private partnerships and strategies required to scale and finance health insurance programs sustainably for low-income and vulnerable groups.  
  • Provide practical examples of how digital innovations can be leveraged by all parties in a partnership to offer comprehensive and efficient health insurance products, strengthen health systems, and contribute to achieving UHC in LMICs.
  • Explore the potential risks of technology in health, related to privacy and protection, interoperability, local capacity, and gender divide in access to mobile technology services.

  

  

  

Day 3 - 25 October 2023

Hosted by  A2ii and GIZ

Speakers:

Yizaso Musonda
Manager, Market Development - Insurance, Pensions and Insurance Authority, Zambia

Lebohang Mabataung Moletsane
Section Head Long term Insurance and Microinsurance, Central Bank, Lesotho

Jibran Paracha
Additional Joint Director, Insurance Division, Policy Regulation & Development Department, Securities and Exchange Commision, Pakistan

Facilitator:

Milena Kozomara
Advisor, A2ii, Germany

  

Many stakeholders in the insurance industry, including regulators and supervisors, express their commitment to treat women and men as equal. However, gender-neutral approaches to insurance, though well-intended, create a disproportionate impact on women. Through pre-existing biases women are being unintentionally left behind with their specific needs not being considered.  

Without sufficient knowledge about the actual magnitude and nature of gender protection gaps, there cannot be gender equality.  

In this panel, some of the questions that will be discussed include:

  • Where are the gender data gaps and how do they contribute to women’s financial exclusion?
  • What kind of data would be needed and how would it need to be aggregated, analysed and used to address the gender protection gaps?
  • What are good practices in collecting this data and how can they be scaled up?

Hosted by InsuResilience Investment Fund

Speakers:

Juna Shrestha
Consultant, CelsiusPro, Switzerland

Natia Zhgenti
Senior Investment Officer, BlueOrchard, Switzerland

Daniel Awuah-Darko
Chairman, Vanguard Assurance, Ghana  

Richard Hardy  
Investment Director Africa, BlueOrchard, Switzerland

Facilitator:

Arndt Wierheim  
Office director, KfW Accra, Ghana


The session will showcase the blended finance approach of the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), where public funds are used to leverage private capital to improve access to and use of climate insurance in developing countries. IIF, which was set up in 2015, makes investments through its two sub-funds i.e., the Debt and Equity Sub-Funds. As of December 2022, the Fund has invested USD 145 million in 26 investee companies based in 17 countries.

The Debt Sub-Fund offers private debt funding to microfinance institutions and aggregators, whilst the Equity Sub-Fund supports insurance companies as well as data and software providers. The investment provides tangible benefits such as capital injections and liquidity in local currency enabling them to offer new products, serve new client groups and invest in new technologies.   The complementary technical assistance which is provided with investment may help investees with business strategy and planning, product development, or client education. Selected investees receive premium support which reduces insurance premiums for end clients, allowing new products to get a foothold in nascent climate insurance markets.  

The achievements, challenges, and solutions gathered during the last seven years of the IIF journey will be shared in this session.  

Hosted by  Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation

Speakers:

Zika Djodjo
Fellow, Impact Insurance Development Advisor - Associate Collaborator of ILO’s Social Finance programme (Fellow), Ivory Coast

Agnès Diene
COO, VisionFund, Sénégal

Herman Jako
Head of Risk and Head of insurance project, COMUBA, Benin

Facilitator:

Hanadi Tutunji
Technical Assistance and Partnerships Officer, GCFA, France

The session will look at the challenge of strengthening and transferring skills within microfinance institutions (MFIs)   for a sustainable impact when deploying microinsurance programs.

The panel will share the first results of the implementation of the program, the challenges that the project partners faced as well as success factors that can create value for both insurers and the MFIs leading to   economic and social development.

Hosted by  Microinsurance Master

Speakers:

Gideon Ataraire
CEO, Allianz Life, Ghana

Ovia Tuhairwe  (online)
CEO, Radiant Yacu, Rwanda

Andrew Nkolola
CEO, aYo, Zambia

Ikpeme Neto
CEO, Wellahealth, Nigeria

Facilitator:

Bert Opdebeeck
Founder, Microinsurance Master, Belgium

  

Different types of organisations offer inclusive insurance. But who is best positioned to thrive?

The session aims to compare and analyse different types of organisations operating in the inclusive insurance sector, focusing on various dimensions like expertise, funding, cost structure, patience, business priority, adaptability, customer-centricity, and distribution strategy.The session will discuss advantages and disadvantages of their respective approaches with concrete examples and the track record of the respective organisations.

Speakers:

Julian Roeckert  
Researcher,  Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany
Crowding-in or crowding-out: The effect of humanitarian aid on households’ investments in index insurance

Lukas Mogge  
Doctoral Researcher,  Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany
A district-level analysis of the effect of risk exposure on the demand for index insurance in Mongolia

Sebastain Awondo  
Associate Researcher,  University of Alabama,  United States
Leveraging Optimal Portfolio of Drought Tolerant Crop Varieties across Agro-climatic Zones to Scale Drought Index Insurance

Facilitator:

Glenn Harrison
C.V. Starr Chair of Risk Management & Insurance and Director of the CEAR, Georgia State University, United States

Martin Eling
Vice-Dean/Professor of Insurance Management, University of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland

  

This session aims at translating academic research into learnings and recommendations that can be adopted by practicioners. Three papers around indix insurance will be presented.

Hosted by Munich Re

Speakers:

Shashank Kaushik  
Actuarial Manager, Munich Re, India

Khetha Nzimande
Client Manager, Munich Re, South Africa

Facilitator:

Alok Shukla  
Regional Head- Agriculture, Munich Re, India

  

The session will present two technological initiatives that Munich Re offers to its insurance partners. AgroView is a webGIS platform that utilizes satellite and weather data to monitor crop health, and conduct risk assessments across various geographical areas. MR Capture is a mobile application designed to digitize and store location-based agricultural data including pictures, promoting transparency in crop health monitoring and claim assessment.  

The vision is to further integrate MR Capture with AgroView and AI based image analytics to enhance its capabilities in picture-based loss assessment and yield estimation.  

Hosted by MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman

Speakers:

John Caroll  
Consultant and Project Manager, MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman, United States

Sarah Ebrahimi  
Head of Institutional Partnerships and Personal Lines, Blue Marble, United States

Henrique Chaluco  
Co-Founder & CEO, Safeline Companhia de Micro Seguros, Mozambique

Facilitator:

Mariah Mateo Sarpong  
Director of Communications and Knowledge Management, MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman, USA

  

Consumer education of inclusive insurance customers is widely accepted as lacking and important to address. However, equally important is education of institutions serving low-income and underserved customers. Insurers and their implementing partners still struggle to understand the target market and communicate the benefits of insurance to them. In this fireside chat style session, the panelists will present concrete examples and strategies from their experience learning from and building capacity of institutional partners in three regions of the world.

Hosted by  International Finance Corporation

Speakers:

Johannes Borchert  
Risk and Resilience Manager, One Acre Fund, Kenya

Taye Masresha
Social Scientist, Agency for Inclusive Innovations Development (AIID), Kenya

Isaac Magina  
Manager, Agriculture Underwriting and Marketing, Africa Re, Nigeria

Adeoye Wasiu Adelabu
Technical Focal Point, World Bank Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (LPRES), Nigeria

Facilitator:

Sharon Onyango  
Financial Sector Specialist/Operations Officer, IFC, South Africa

  

African countries are increasingly vulnerable to climate risk which create negative consequences for smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and agri-businesses, including production loss, food insecurity, and territorial conflict.

This session will present two case studies showcasing innovative insurance solutions to address current gaps within the climate insurance value chain and societal issues partly driven by climate risk in East and Southern Africa and Nigeria.  

Speakers:

Saurabh Sharma
Director, Emerging Customers,  Britam, Kenya
Successes & failures in telco partnerships: Three case studies in Kenya

Agrotosh Mookerjee  
Managing Director & Chief Actuary,  Risk Shield Consultants, Zambia
Lessons implementing climate risk insurance in West Africa

Tarek Seif
Secretary General, IFEGY, Egypt
Experience from Egypt

Facilitator:

Lemmy Manje
CEO, FinProbity Solutions, Rwanda/Zambia

  

While inclusive insurance products and services have been around for nearly two decades, some old challenges still limit progress in certain markets. Understanding customer needs to create customer-centric products is now a well-articulated approach for any financial service provider serving populations in low- and middle-income markets. Experts agree that ownership and leadership are the basis for inclusive insurance services to succeed and grow. This session will present three cases and discuss experience and lessons learnt from developing different types of inclusive insurance products in Africa.

  

  

Hosted by GIZ

  

Speakers:

Astrid Zwick
Global Shield Co-Director, Global Shield Secretariat, Germany

Abena Takyiwaa Asamoah-Okyere
Technical Advisor to the Minister (Sustainability), Ministry of Finance, Ghana

Vera Doeyo Asante
Head of MSME Insurance Unit, Glico General, Ghana

Esther Mireku
Country fellow Global Climate Fellowship Programme, SLYCAN Trust, Ghana

Pedro Pinheiro
IDF Inclusive Insurance Project Manager, Microinsurance Network, Luxembourg

Facilitator:

Matthias Range
Head of Risk Finance & Insurance, GIZ, Germany

  

  

The Global Shield (GS) against Climate Risks was announced at COP27 in Egypt. The GS builds on the InsuResilience Global Partnership and aims to contribute to the global efforts against losses and damages. One key element of the GS are the structured In-Country Processes (ICP).

Hosted by UNCDF

Speakers:

Praveen Regmi
Chief Executive Officer, IME Pay, Nepal

Dr. Ahmed Saleheen
Senior Secretary, Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of Bangladesh, Bangladesh

Prarthana Sahi
Senior Manager, Shikhar Insurance Company Limited, Nepal

Andrew Takyi-Appiah
Founder and CEO, Zeepay, Ghana

Facilitator:

Clara Arthur
Policy and Ecosystem Specialist, UNCDF, Ghana

  

Financial resilience for nearly 300 million migrants and their families is becoming a development priority due to increasing global migration trends, food security issues, and climate-related shocks. Scalable financial services like insurance and pensions contribute to the financial resilience of migrants and their families, especially women migrants, who comprise almost half of the migrants globally.

The session will highlight the emerging models of providing insurance and pensions for migrants in a scalable and commercially viable manner.  

Speakers:

Saurabh Sharma
Director, Emerging Customers, Britam, Kenya
Making a profitable inclusive insurance business in Africa: A case study of Britam Kenya

Sosthenes Konutsey
Director and Head of Partnerships, BIMA, Ghana
Closing the gap: Telemedicine partnerships, bridge to Universal Health Coverage

Michal Matul
Head of digital health, consumer insights and training, AXA, France
Health equity for emerging customers

Facilitator:

Denis Garand
President, DGA, Canada

  

Low-income households the world over cite health emergencies as one of the biggest risks to their financial security. Women are the worst affected. In the absence of affordable health insurance, low-income households tend to use their savings or even sell their assets to cover health costs. During the session, three journeys of health insurance providers will be presented. Speakers will share their experience from developing a range of health insurance services around the world and how they overcame challenges and barriers.

Day 4 - 26 October 2023

Hosted by Cenfri and FSD Africa

Speakers:

Aisha Bashir
Principal Manager - Financial Inclusion, NAICOM, Nigeria

Rose Tuyeni Peter
Partnership Manager, Cenfri, South Africa

Nonso Opurum
CEO, Soso Care Insurtech, Nigeria

Mohamed Hafiz
Head of Innovation, National Insurance Commission, Ghana

Facilitator:

Elias Omondi
Senior manager, Risk regulations, FSD Africa, Kenya

  

Innovation pushes the boundaries of how regulation is traditionally defined, be it in terms of a new type of player, type of role, type of product or mode of distribution. The appropriate response to such innovation will vary with country context. Regulating for innovation requires collaborative work, where current and prospective market players are on the front foot to help create a facilitating enabling environment. The session will address two questions:  

1) How can regulators better enable private sector innovation, given the limited success to date?  

2) What is the role of innovators to support regulators in this quest, through effective signalling of realities and needs?

  

  

  

  

  

Hosted by Leapfrog Investments

Speakers:

Raimund Snyders  
Partner, LeapFrog Investments, South Africa

Laura Rosado
Strategy & Finance, Axa Emerging Customers, Paris

Wangeci Mathenge
Head of Actuarial & Product Development, Inclusivity Solutions, South Africa

Facilitator:

Craig Churchill
Chief, Social Finance, ILO, Switzerland

  

The increased risk environment facing low-income consumers and micro-entrepreneurs makes it even more critical to reflect on lessons learnt and collaborate to find keys to sustainability. The focus to date has been on scaling, and we have seen many examples of impressive scaling; yet very few, if any examples of sustainable profitable businesses. The continued reliance on capital, subsidies and cross-subsidisation is evidence of the challenges facing microinsurance entrepreneurs. The session will highlight the opportunities and challenges facing microinsurance business models to surface lessons learnt from a decade of investing in insurance across growth markets in Africa and Asia.  

  

  

  

  

  

Speakers:

Michael  Kofi Andoh
Acting Comissioner, NIC, Ghana

Lorenzo Chan
Chair of the Board of the Microinsruance Network, Luxembourg

GIA (TBC)

Host of the ICII 2024 (TBC)

Facilitator:

Dirk Reinhard
Vice Chair, Munich Re Foundation, Germany

  

This session will provide a summary of the ICII 2023 and an outlook on the ICII 2024.

Day 5 - 27 October 2023

Seats are limited. There will be a separate registration required.

Visit of Visionfund/ Allianz project (TBC)