Five Start-Ups Driving Africa’s Insurance Industry

Published 02 December 2022

Author
Emilia Morano-Williams
2 min read

With only 2.8% of Africa’s population holding an insurance policy (African Insurance Organisation, 2020), start-ups are rushing to supply culturally attuned schemes to the continent’s customers. We highlight five companies to know.

  • Lami: Kenya-based Lami has an insurance marketplace where people can compare costs and benefits across suppliers. Its vehicle-focused debut offering is sold in Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt. The start-up also gives traditional providers access to APIs (application programming interfaces), helping them digitalise their policies and making it easier for consumers to customise their coverage, thereby lowering premiums.

  • Casava: Nigerian start-up Casava provides low-cost health and unemployment insurance that can be purchased and managed online, through an app, or via WhatsApp. To encourage adoption, Casava offers new policyholders a month-long free trial, and entices them to stay on with services like telehealth and executive coaching.

  • Turaco: Kenya’s Turaco partners with companies to sell micro-insurance – low-cost coverage across life, assets, automobiles and health. To ensure the policies are seen as a support and not a cash grab, the start-up aims to pay out claims in three business days or less. Apart from Kenya, Turaco also serves the Ugandan and Nigerian markets.

  • MotiSure: Also in Kenya, MotiSure caters to boda boda (motorcycle delivery) drivers, who can purchase insurance via daily micro-payments, which can be as low as 10 cents. To qualify for coverage, policyholders must submit consistent instalments for seven days.

  • JaSure: South African start-up JaSure lets customers insure specific items and turn coverage on and off as needed. This is controlled via an app, and policyholders are billed at the end of the month only for the period the protection was switched on. Demonstrating the market potential, the company was purchased by South African insurance giant Santam in June.

 

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