NAIROBI, KENYA (Aug. 23, 2021) – MIC Global (MIC) (formerly Micro Insurance Company) and Lofte Kesho are partnering to offer digital solutions to livestock farmers in an effort to improve their economic well-being. Lofte Kesho, an integrated FinTech and AgriTech player, was created to help farmers collateralize animals as assets for financial benefits such as loans, working capital, cow replacement loans, and investment loans. They have also created unique systems for animal identification as well as the process of tokenizing animals using blockchain.

Lofte Kesho is partnering with MIC in an effort to strengthen their mission of helping farmers to unlock the financial benefits associated with their livestock. By partnering with MIC, farmers will now be able to insure their livestock, which gives them access to credit opportunities – as they will now be able to use their insured livestock as collateral. This will help improve the financial state for many farmers. Furthermore, MIC is also offering a life and hospitalization cover to the middle and low segment Livestock farmers to safeguard them against many of the risks they face, so when the unexpected happens, they are able to bounce back swiftly.

Ms. Wairimu Njoki, Country Manager, MIC Global, says:

“We are pleased to be partnering with Lofte Kesho as they improve the inclusivity of livestock farmers for enhanced access to financial solutions. Farmers have always held assets through their livestock but are often locked out of financial access because historically, financial institutions have not considered livestock as a good form of security. By MIC insuring farmers’ livestock, it has enabled financial institutions to get on board with accepting livestock as a secure asset, and thus, feel confident in accepting it as collateral.”

Bernard Njathi, Co-Founder of Lofte Kesho, says:

“Our farmers are faced with multiple challenges. According to the World Bank, by the year 2050, food demand will increase by 70%. So what does this really mean? We need to support our farmers – both our Crop and Livestock farmers. This is why Lofte Kesho Kenya Limited acknowledges that our livestock farmers are not necessarily poor but lack a supportive ecosystem that properly promotes and unlocks animal identification, valuation, insurance and animal collateralized loans. As a result, Lofte Kesho is excited to partner with Micro Insurance Company to further our aim of providing value-added services to livestock farmers in the areas of animal health, nutrition, and productivity. Our partnership with MIC will further enhance our ability to offer peace of mind to livestock farmers.”

MIC and Lofte Kesho join forces to address both the financial and insurance inclusivity against the marginalized – using the FarmTrek platform as a route to access these services. This partnership combines Lofte Kesho’s knowledge of livestock along with MIC’s expertise in product design to ensure optimal product consideration and adjusted premiums.

About Lofte Kesho: 

Founded in 2018 with headquarters in Kenya, Lofte Kesho is an integrated FinTech and AgriTech player offering an animal identification and traceability platform. In partnership with InfoCorp Technologies, Lofte Kesho has rolled out FarmTrek, a solution that brings inclusive financial services to the livestock industry in emerging markets via its blockchain-based platform. Lofte Kesho works with smallholder farmers to unlock financial benefits associated with their animals.

For more information, please contact Bernard.Njathi@loftekesho.com or visit: https://www.loftekesho.com/

About MIC Global:

MIC Global (MIC) is a global insurance platform delivering technology, underwriting, policy management, and distribution. MIC provides insurance to platforms, micro & small businesses, and to the 4 billion people on the planet that are currently unserved. Whereas most insurtechs seek to improve existing monoline products and markets, we follow the concept of straight through processing. We do this in order to create highly relevant insurance products that we can offer globally at a very low cost via our platform to support people in their local communities. Micro Insurance Company is the world’s first global end-to-end digital microinsurance platform that combines reinsurance capacity, in-country insurance licenses, world class distribution, and market leading AI functionality.

For more information, please contact wairimu.njoki@microinsurance.com or visit: https://micglobal.com/

TANZANIA (June 7, 2021) – VisionFund and MicroEnsure (now part of MIC Global) introduce a new health and life insurance product in Tanzania. Under this initiative, VisionFund Tanzania, a Microfinance Bank, will provide their customers with simple-to-understand microinsurance plans at a very affordable cost. This will help VisionFund Tanzania’s customers and their families to cope with the many vulnerabilities they face in areas such as health, death, and disability. This insurance product will also cover risks related to Covid-19 and will offer support within communities that continue to fight against this pandemic.

MIC Global (MIC) and TanManagement Insurance Brokers, who recently joined forces, are partnering with VisionFund Tanzania to provide financial inclusion in their marginalised communities. As part of this effort, the two entities have collaborated to offer the citizens of Tanzania with a unique package of health, life, and disability insurance. This innovative bundled product was designed after considering the specific requirements of local customers and their families, as well as taking valuable input from the VisionFund Tanzania staff who interact with these customers on a daily basis. This product is the first of its kind and is expected to be a trendsetter in the Tanzanian microinsurance landscape. Furthermore, it will help to grow insurance penetration across the country.

Speaking at the occasion of the product launch, Mr. Yohane I Kaduma, Chief Executive Officer of VisionFund Tanzania Microfinance Bank Limited said,

“I am profoundly excited at the establishment of this solution, which brings true resilience and sustainability for our clients through linkage to this insurance product. For VFT, this is an extension of financial services to our clients. Again we are delighted to introduce this product and have high expectations of a good uptake since it involves coverage for their Medical expenses when unwell, any total permanent disability, and even loss of life. This initiative implies widening of our financial services beyond credit and savings, to paving a path of focusing on our clients’ lives.”

Mr. Rehan Butt, Vice President, MIC Global remarked,

“This initiative is part of our mission to provide a global safety net to the four billion un/ underinsured people across the globe. We are proud to be in partnership with VisionFund to deliver on that objective in Tanzania. The low and middle-income segments have the highest need for risk protection and yet, they have the least amount of access to insurance products. MIC is determined to change that and we are optimistic that with the help of partners like VisionFund, we will be able to take insurance products and solutions to a much larger population of uninsured communities around the world. I would like to thank our partners Sanlam Life Insurance and our Tanzania representative through BrokersLink, TanManagement Insurance Brokers Limited, for their support in delivering this insurance to VisionFund customers.”

VisionFund International (VFI) is the world’s largest global Christian microfinance network and part of World Vision, a Christian relief, development, and advocacy organisation. VFI serves over 1.1 million clients and impacts the lives of 4.1 million children in 28 countries. In Africa, VFI operates in 11 countries, lending over USD 100m to more than 450,000 clients.

VisionFund Tanzania (VFT) is a Chiristian Microfinance Bank established in 1996 as a Microfinance Institution by World Vision and transformed to a Microfinance Bank regulated by the Central Bank in 2014 under the network of VisionFund International. Fully supported by VFI, VFT aims at impacting children and rural communities through the provision of financial products and sServices. Over the years, VisionFund Tanzania has grown its customer base and extended its outreach across the country with tailor-made products such as Credit, Savings, and Insurance whilst embracing technology as a game changer. Since its establishment, VisionFund Tanzania has remained responsive to the needs of the low- income families, particularly those in rural areas. Currently, VisionFund Tanzania is amongst the strongest Microfinance Banks offering financial services in Tanzania mainland, with a Cash holding and a network of 52 Cashless branches, spread in 22 regions with a customer base of around 30,137 and a TZS.17Bil loan portfolio.

MIC Global (MIC) is a global insurance platform delivering technology, underwriting, policy management, and distribution. MIC provides insurance to platforms, micro & small businesses, and to the 4 billion people on the planet that are currently unserved. Whereas most Insurtechs seek to improve existing monoline products and markets, we follow the concept of straight through processing. We do this in order to create highly relevant insurance products that we can offer via our platform globally at a very low cost in order to support people in their local communities. MIC is the world’s first global end-to-end digital micro insurance platform that has combined reinsurance capacity, in-country insurance licenses, world class distribution, and market leading AI functionality. For more details visit www.micglobal.com or email Rehan Butt at rehan@microinsurance.com

NAIROBI, KENYA (May 27, 2021) – MicroEnsure (now part of MIC Global) and ImaliPay are partnering to deliver digital insurance products to Africa’s gig workers. These unique insurance products will provide this underserved sector with a safety net, so when the unexpected happens, people are able to bounce back swiftly.

These unique insurance products will provide this underserved sector with a safety net, so when the unexpected happens, people are able to bounce back swiftly.

MIC Global (MIC) is focused on providing end-to-end microinsurance products to the mass market at affordable premiums. ImaliPay is a fast-growing Pan African and VC backed financial services platform focused on offering credit, savings, and insurance via a single channel or API to Africa’s gig economy platforms. ImaliPay deploys short-term finance easily and quickly to enable their customers to generate more revenue from their gig work.

ImaliPay is partnering with MIC to deliver insurance products to their growing customer base of gig workers in Kenya. This partnership will empower gig workers by providing insurance tailored to their needs and their level/proportion of income generation. Furthermore, the addition of this insurance product will help improve the quality of life for delivery, ride-sharing, and mobility sector workers.

The majority of gig workers, especially in the ride-sharing sector, remain active despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the nature of their jobs, they remain at high risk for contracting Covid-19 with minimal access to insurance coverage to protect them. Therefore, this insurance product being offered through the partnership of MIC and ImaliPay will cover Covid-19 as well as a range of other risks including health, death, disability and property destruction.

MIC brings its comprehensive trajectory and track record in providing microinsurance which ImaliPay will leverage to provide insurance products to its customers.

Ms Wairimu Njoki, Country Manager, MicroEnsure East Africa, says:

“We are delighted to be partnering with ImaliPay to boost the rising gig economy by providing social protection through innovative, need-based insurance. This is in line with our audacious goal of insuring the 4 billion un/underinsured lives globally.”

Uptake of insurance remains low in Kenya, with poor product design and constrained distribution channels contributing to low insurance penetration levels. MIC and ImaliPay join forces to address both of these issues – using ImaliPay’s platform as a route to access these services along with their knowledge of the gig workforce, and MIC’s expertise in product design to ensure optimal product consideration and adjusted premiums.

Tatenda Furusa, Co-founder of ImaliPay says:

“At the very heart of our business, we are concerned with re-defining our customer experience by providing a wider product basket and prioritising the products that are most important/necessary to our customers. Insurance sits right at the forefront of our customer needs and we’re happy to be catering to those needs with this collaboration.”

For more information, please email hello@imalipay.com or visit ImaliPay, or email kenya@microensure.com or visit MIC Global