Maurice Iwunze, CEO of SympliFi told the media, “Access to credit and health care remains out of reach for most Nigerians, so families in the diaspora end up serving as the bank and insurance company for their loved ones back home. It’s a financial drain on those in the diaspora, while their loved ones back home continue to be excluded from the financial system.

“We wanted to develop an innovative solution to seamlessly address the problem, in a way that’s a win-win for both sides. The AXA partnership allows us to do so and is a first step in working together to reimagine the way Nigerians in diaspora support their loved ones back home, beyond remittances.”

Recently, AXA UK revealed that it has hired David Ovenden as the new chief underwriting officer for its commercial business. He will replace David Williams, who will vacate the post by the end of this year.

His responsibilities include delivering AXA UK’s pricing and underwriting programmes, focusing on the continued development of the insurer’s underwriting capabilities.

AXA Commercial’s chief executive officer Jon Walker said that David Ovenden’s experience, knowledge, and leadership skills are invaluable as AXA drive forward its vision and focus to further strengthen our underwriting capabilities.

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Nigeria also recorded the biggest drop in premiums in 2020 year-on-year. It also ranks last in terms of insurance premiums for 2020.

Swiss Re in its report forecasted that global insurance premiums will be reach the $7 trillion mark by the end of 2022.

Irina Fan, head insurance market analysis, Swiss Re Institute said that whether it is private medical insurance or supply chain interruption for businesses, the pandemic experience has made people much more aware of the need for insurance protection.

Last month, it was reported that AXA Mansard has partnered with telco Airtel Nigeria to improve access to health insurance for Nigerians.

Head of Emerging Customer and Digital Partnership Group, AXA Mansard, Mr Alphred Egbai told the media, “Our research has shown the value and importance of having a health insurance plan to the public especially for the emerging customers in the country, but for many reasons, the uptake of insurance products has been low.

“In order to mitigate these challenges and satisfy the health needs of the retail consumer whilst also encouraging the uptake of health insurance in the country, we have partnered with Airtel Nigeria to provide a solution that gives users a convenient way to purchase and manage their AXA Mansard micro-insurance plans.”

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Curacel’s AI-powered platform looks to fast-track claims and process fraudulent defects for health insurance companies. According to media reports, the startup’s client list includes some of the biggest insurers such as Liberty Health, AXA Mansard, and Old Mutual. It also works with over 800 hospitals and across Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria with the intention to expand to a further 10 countries by 2021.

Earlier this year, Kenya-based insurtech startup Pula secured $6 million in its Series A funding round led by early stage pan African VC firm TLcom Capital. The funding round also saw participation from the non-profit Women’s World Banking. Pula targets smallholder farmers who make up 80 percent of the food supply across Africa and Asia.

According to a Mckinsey report, the insurance market in Africa in a pre-pandemic setting was expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7 percent between 2020 and 2025, which is twice as much as North America, three times more than Europe and above Asia’s 6 percent.

It was also observed that Africa scores very low in insurance uptake, pointing to a 2.8 percent insurance penetration compared to the world’s average of 6.8 percent. The insurance penetration is seemingly more concerning in Kenya as it has recently decreased. That said, Kenya’s GDP growth rate has outpaced insurance premiums, media reports said.

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