Call for proposals

#ICII2023

The International Conference on Inclusive Insurance 2023 will take place in Accra, Ghana, from 23 to 27 October 2023. Insurance and development experts from around the world will discuss and identify ways of accelerating growth in, and the economic viability of, inclusive insurance for emerging markets. The conference will be jointly hosted by the National Insurance Commission of Ghana (NIC), the Ghana Insurance Association (GIA) and the Insurance Brokers’ Association of Ghana (IBAG) in cooperation with the Munich Re Foundation and the Microinsurance Network.

Background

The recent pandemic has increased the number of people living below the poverty line. Furthermore, experts estimate that climate change could push over 100 million people back into poverty by 2030. Over 50% of the world’s population is considered low-income (US$ 2-10 per day) or poor. The majority of these people still lack any formal safety net through insurance, social security or government systems, and are at risk of falling (back) into poverty in the event of a major or minor disaster.

Representatives from insurance and reinsurance companies, brokers, distribution channels, technology providers, investment funds, international organisations, NGOs and development aid agencies, as well as academics, policymakers and insurance supervisors, will attend the conference. Delegates will exchange views on current trends and risks in emerging markets and discuss key factors for the successful implementation and maximisation of business opportunities to bring supply and demand to the next level.

Structure and objectives of the conference

The conference will be held as an in-person event. The ICII 2023 will feature 18 sessions on key topics addressed to an interdisciplinary audience. Additional pre-conference workshops will deal in depth with subtopics. Keynote speeches will look at the latest international, national and local insights.

Conference language

English / French (TBC)

Proposal submission form

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Call for proposals

To cover subjects that are currently of interest, the conference organisers are calling for proposals on the following topics:

Topics

(Click on each topic for details).

1. The business model for inclusive insurance

Inclusive insurance is an important risk management tool for emerging consumers. It represents a gigantic business opportunity and plays a still underestimated role in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, entry barriers are high and inclusive insurance programmes must be self-sustainable and profitable. The organisers are interested in understanding how and why insurance providers successfully entered the inclusive insurance market. What are the incentives to invest in the inclusive insurance market? How do insurers embed inclusive insurance in their overall strategy? How can a long-term vision help to create future markets? What are the key success factors for making inclusive insurance viable? What can conventional insurance learn from inclusive insurance markets? How can creating a social welfare function be combined with creating a profitable business? Looking at the value chain for inclusive insurance (distribution partner / broker / insurer / reinsurer): which of these is most important, which makes a profit and which does not, what split of roles and responsibilities makes sense, and are these aligned with the split in revenue between partners?

2. Digital solutions for inclusive insurance

The limited number of efficient distribution and management systems remains a key barrier to closing the insurance gap. Digital platforms and new data aggregators are broadening the potential for digital finance services to reach clients who were previously excluded. At the same time, a digital service frequently requires offline backup, and technical applications have various limitations. The organisers are interested in understanding the extent to which high-touch solutions can be complemented or replaced by low- or even no-touch solutions. What are efficient tools for data collection and analysis (including weather data), risk modelling, and their application in developing markets? In particular, submissions should address the benefits and challenges of using the technology or application presented in the submission. The conference organisers are particularly interested in receiving proposals from tech companies providing technologies that impact distribution, risk-profiling, pricing, claims processing and product design, as well as understanding the cost implications of such implementation. How have these channels been used to overcome geographic, infrastructure and societal constraints? What can we learn from other sectors, and how can we partner with other industry sectors to increase outreach? The organisers are interested in case studies covering the set-up of mutually beneficial partnerships, and in how to manage such partnerships proactively.

3. /4./ 5. New inclusive insurance products or partnerships… / … in the fields of health or hospital cash / … in the fields of credit life or funeral insurance / … in the field of (micro) pensions.

Submissions should explore ways in which products or partnerships can be structured to broaden outreach and coverage, and also consider how they benefit the target market. How can inclusive insurance go beyond existing products and work on more comprehensive health covers, or even savings and pensions? What are the ways we can expand our product offering to tackle priorities? How can telemedicine improve access to healthcare and insurance? What’s next after hospital cash? How can we reach new customers such as migrant workers and build on remittances? How can we accelerate the expansion of government programmes, and how can insurance companies work with them? Preference will be given to presentations that include details relating to product outreach and performance indicators.

6. Coping with climate and pandemic risks

Households, farmers, entrepreneurs and enterprises need to prepare for various risks and safeguard their economic activities. The affordability of insurance solutions remains a key issue. The combination of macro-, meso- and micro-level climate and disaster risk finance, insurance and social protection, as well as the development of index-based solutions, plays a vital role in strengthening the resilience of the vulnerable and poor. The organisers are interested in understanding the current development of insurance schemes, including parametric (index-based) products aimed at protecting households and farmers as well as MSMEs against natural disasters and pandemic risks. What is needed to scale insurance against disasters? How can we make climate risk insurance affordable? What does it take to make PPPs successful? How to design and tailor such solutions to meet the needs of the target group? How can insurance along the value chain help increase protection against disasters? The conference organisers are also interested in receiving proposals that report on the role of governments in developing solutions or facilitating the expansion of disaster risk insurance and that consider risk mitigation and loss prevention efforts.

7. Enabling (regulatory) environment

Scale is key to reducing costs and increasing efficiency, which remains a particular challenge. Policies and action plans including all stakeholders defined at the highest level of government are required to identify and overcome barriers for market development. Regulators have a critical role to play in market development. Harmonisation of insurance regulation across countries, or greater mutual recognition of the regulatory and supervisory systems in other jurisdictions, could help providers to reach scale. The conference organisers welcome proposals that explore how insurance supervisors can create environments that enable scale and innovation, while at the same time protecting consumers. How to design a national inclusive insurance strategy? What lessons can be learnt from around the world? What are the strategies for overcoming the challenge of fragmented target markets? How can countries cooperate to enable providers to reach scale? What is the experience in regions that currently have common regulation? What are the prerequisites for companies to offer similar products in various markets to increase efficiency and outreach?

8. Gender-sensitive inclusive insurance

Research has shown that women face different risks to men, place value on different components of insurance solutions, and often engage and build trust differently. However, insurers or insurance policies do not always take gender-specific requirements into account. Effective insurance solutions need to be tailored, designed and appropriately marketed to women. The conference organisers welcome proposals aimed at understanding gender-specific needs, use and customer journeys to get value from insurance, as well as partnerships and distribution models that have helped facilitate access to insurance for women customers. What are the main reasons why women have less access to insurance? How can this be solved? What are the gender-specific risk management requirements, and how can insurers better understand women’s needs through market research and product design? We are also interested in proposals examining how insurers have engaged with regulators to increase women’s access to insurance.

9. Consumer education: build capacities of people, societies and institutions

There is a need to build the capacities of people, societies and institutions on many levels, such as the financial literacy of the target market, in order to integrate insurance into a broader risk management approach. Risk carriers need a better understanding of the needs and preferences of the underserved client potential. Organisations with successful capacity-building experience on any of these levels are invited to submit applications to present their methods, tools and strategies. We are also interested in attempts to improve the insurance literacy of stakeholders with regard to digitally supported products and delivery mechanisms. Presentations should include a cost-benefit analysis assessing the effectiveness of the approaches used.

10. Looking back: successes and failures in inclusive insurance

Research has shown that women face different risks to men, place value on different components of insurance solutions, and often engage and build trust differently. However, insurers or insurance policies do not always take gender-specific requirements into account. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women and women-led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) demonstrates that effective insurance solutions need to be tailored, designed and appropriately marketed to women. The conference organisers welcome proposals aimed at understanding gender-specific needs, use and customer journeys to get value from insurance, as well as partnerships and distribution models that have helped facilitate access to insurance for women customers. What are the main reasons why women have less access to insurance? How can this be solved? What are the gender-specific risk management requirements, and how can insurers better understand women’s needs through market research and product design? We are also interested in proposals examining how insurers have engaged with regulators to increase women’s access to insurance.

11. Learnings from scientific research

The organisers are interested in the scientific analysis of inclusive insurance markets. This year’s call for proposals will be held in cooperation with the fifth special issue of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance–Issues and Practice on Microinsurance.

Empirical, theoretical and policy-oriented papers are invited on topics such as:

Experience with involving insureds – individually or in groups – in inclusive insurance products (e.g. package design, pricing, claims adjudication, administration)
The impact of inclusive insurance on welfare gains and financial protection, as well as its contribution to economic growth and reducing inequality; inclusive insurance-driven improvements for the insured (micro level) and economic growth (macro level)
Inclusive insurance development (e.g. product innovations, marketing distribution)
Evidence of innovative risk-bundling or innovation in methods (e.g. new data modelling, obtaining high-resolution data)
Closing protection gaps: Implementation of increased insurance uptake in the informal sectors of low- and middle-income countries
New technological applications (InsurTech) in inclusive insurance
The effects of crop/agricultural inclusive insurance on food security and rural-urban migration, and new technologies in agricultural insurance
Experiences with health inclusive insurance, also in light of COVID-19
Inclusive insurance regulation: The good, the bad, and the missing
Social and ethical aspects of and barriers to inclusive insurance
Inclusive insurance education and awareness raising: What works, what does not?
Inclusive insurance and climate risk

12. ICII 2023 pitching session*

The ICII 2023 offers a unique opportunity to pitch your project in front of an international audience of inclusive insurance experts. Are you looking for partners? Are you looking for funding? Do you want to receive feedback on your approach? We invite participants in the ICII 2023 to pitch their projects. To ensure a high-quality elevator pitch, all submissions will be assessed by the steering committee. 10 submissions will be selected for a 5-minute pitch. Each pitch will be followed by a 2-minute Q&A session.

Submission of proposals

The ICII 2023 will take place as an in-person event.
All proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Steering Committee, including a pre-selection process.
Proposals need to make a compelling case on how to add value to the shared knowledge base and drive market development.
Proposals for individual presentations and full sessions can only be submitted through the online submission form available from the conference website. To submit a proposal, please complete the form in English. Please note that no other format can be accepted.
An electronic version of a draft paper, presentation or other explanatory document must be attached in Acrobat (PDF) format.

Proposals can be submitted under the following two categories:

A) Proposals for a full session

The conference organisers invite proposals that cover a full 90-minute session. The hosting organisation will be named in the agenda and conference report as a content partner of the conference.

The content of these sessions must focus on a specific topic addressing specific questions that are relevant to a broader audience. Proposals should include concrete objectives for the session. Submissions based on the details of actual results are preferred. Panellists should ideally represent a broad range of stakeholders and/or have a broad geographic background, as well as gender diversity.

The hosting organisation will be responsible for inviting speakers and organising the session in coordination with the conference organisers.
The travel and accommodation costs of speakers/facilitators should be covered by the hosting organisation. The conference organisers are not responsible for covering such expenses.
Up to four speakers/facilitators will be granted admission free of charge.
If you are submitting two consecutive sessions, such as for training, please note this in your proposal.
Speakers must be registered using the online registration form.
Speakers/facilitators must be confirmed by 1 September 2023 at the latest.
Breakout rooms for the session will be allocated by the conference organisers.
Breakout room arrangements cannot be changed.

If you would like to host a full session, please submit a draft outline of the session to the conference organisers, using the proposal submission form. The proposal must include speakers and the facilitator, as well as the key questions to be discussed.

B) Proposals for an individual presentation

The organisers invite proposals for individual presentations of around 15-20 minutes, which will be combined with other matching presentations in one session. Proposals for individual presentations should include concrete lessons learnt and recommendations for the audience. Submissions based on the details of actual results are preferred.

Limited funding is available upon application for economy-class travel and hotel expenses of speakers and facilitators from non-profit organisations (excluding large national and international donor organisations). Applications for travel grants cannot be accepted after a proposal has been submitted. There is no limit to the number of abstracts that can be submitted by an organisation, though travel grants are limited to one speaker per non-profit organisation. For details of travel grants for speakers and facilitators, please consult www.inclusiveinsurance.org.

Registration of speakers, participation fees and travel/accommodation

A limited number of speakers and facilitators invited directly by the conference organisers will receive free entry to the conference (*does not apply to the pitching session). The speakers must be registered by 15 September 2023 at the latest. Speakers in the pitching session will have to pay the regular participation fee. The conference organisers are not responsible for the speakers’ travel, hotel and visa arrangements.

Proposal submission form

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General enquiries about the conference: info@munichre-foundation.org

Timeline and acceptance

Submission deadline for proposals and draft papers (extended): 9 May 2023
Notification of acceptance:   31 July 2023
Confirmation of speakers for sessions hosted by third parties:        31 August 2023
Submission of draft presentations for the conference: 15 September 2023
Submission of draft presentations and final papers:                       15 October 2023