Manchester, UK, 17 September 2018: A five-year project to provide low-income dairy farmers with livestock microinsurance in Kenya will be launched by Kenyan cooperative insurer CIC Insurance Group (CIC) at a formal event taking place today in Nairobi. This venture has been formulated as part of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation’s (ICMIF) 5-5-5 Mutual Microinsurance Strategy, which aims to enable microinsurance delivered by mutual and cooperative insurers to reach scale in emerging market countries. The 5-5-5 Strategy is a unique initiative which aims to build the resilience of low-income communities by ensuring the provision of low-cost microinsurance.

Kenya is classified as a low-income country, with 33.6% of its population surviving on an income of less than USD 1.90 per day (UN Human Development Report, 2016). The majority of this population resides in rural areas and relies on agriculture including livestock farming for their livelihoods and which is the backbone of the Kenyan economy. However, livestock in Kenya are vulnerable to a variety of risks and the sudden death of a cow can have serious impacts upon a family’s livelihood.

Tom Gitogo, Group CEO, CIC confirms the proposed impact of the project: “Over the next five years, we plan to issue over 250,000 livestock microinsurance policies to previously uninsured low-income farmers, equating to 500,000 cows insured. CIC will scale up our livestock microinsurance product by partnering with dairy cooperative associations as part of a holistic approach to improving the lives and livelihoods of low-income farmers and their families”.

CIC’s livestock microinsurance policy, first launched in 2009, is a cattle mortality cover for low-income dairy farmers. Through the provision of affordable insurance protection, the farmer is shielded from the financial losses they would otherwise face. As well as providing affordable risk-mitigation solutions, CIC’s livestock policy includes targeted actions on financial literacy training for the intended recipients, as well as access to veterinary services and improved animal husbandry practices. By building an awareness of the role of insurance and providing strategies for risk mitigation, CIC’s project will support the development of a long-term “insurance-friendly” population.

Today’s launch event, hosted by CIC, will be attended by key stakeholders of the project including leaders from CIC, ICMIF representatives in addition to representatives from ICMIF member companies who have been providing support to CIC’s project.

The project launch event will also include a detailed presentation by researchers SBO Research and ACRE Africa on the ICMIF country diagnostic report into the landscape of cooperative and mutual microinsurance in Kenya, which was used as the basis of CIC’s current project.

The full report can be downloaded using the link below.

ICMIF country diagnostic report on mutual and cooperative microinsurance in Kenya

The 5-5-5 Strategy in Kenya has so far been supported by two ICMIF member companies; P&V Insurance (Belgium) and Thrivent Financial (USA). Both organisations have been instrumental in helping CIC to formulate the findings from the country diagnostic report into an evidence-based strategy on which to expand their microinsurance operations. Both organisations have even seconded members of their staff to assist CIC’s team with this by visiting the company in Kenya. Fabian Melis (P&V) spent three months in Kenya with CIC and helped develop the project business plan. Also, Dan Wanous and Ellie Anderson (Thrivent Financial) will be in Kenya for two months arriving later in September 2018 to continue this assignment and help future-proof the success of the venture.

We Effect (Sweden) are also providing financial and technical support to CIC’s livestock microinsurance project. We Effect was founded in 1958 to support the development of democratic organisations and societies that have the capacity to articulate the rights and needs of their members in respect of work, influence, services, incomes and livelihoods. ICMIF member Folksam is a founding and active owner of We Effect.

Sabbir Patel, CEO, the ICMIF Foundation said: “We are extremely excited about the launch of CIC’s project which will have a real impact to low-income Kenyan farmers and we really appreciate all the hard work of CIC and all their partners. We believe this collaboration between like-minded organisations will be the key strength for this project to succeed.”

The ICMIF 5-5-5 Mutual Microinsurance Strategy aims to extend the provision of mutual microinsurance in five emerging market countries to an additional 5 million, previously uninsured households over a period of five years. The intended beneficiaries of the 5-5-5 Strategy reside in poor communities, and the ultimate objective is to build resilience in these communities by providing a mechanism to protect them from the everyday risks they face. The project in Kenya is the third of the five country intervention programmes to have been launched. The 5-5-5 Strategy is predominantly supported directly by ICMIF member companies, and a total of 21 members in 15 countries have so far come together to support the 5-5-5 project.

ENDS

Photo shows:

Far left: Tom Gitogo, Group CEO, CIC Insurance Group (Kenya); second from left: Mary Mungai, Commissioner for Co-operative Development, the Kenyan Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives; and far right: Sabbir Patel, CEO, the ICMIF Foundation.

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Joseph Kamiri, GM Marketing and Distribution, CIC Insurance Group [email protected]  +254 020 2823 207, 0722707211

Naomi Davison, Communications Assistant, Emerging Markets, ICMIF, [email protected] +44 161 952 5059

About ICMIF (see www.icmif555.org)

• With its global headquarters in the United Kingdom and regional offices in Washington DC, USA; and Tokyo, Japan, today ICMIF represents 217 values-based insurers in 70+ countries with over USD 250 billion in premium income and USD 1.6 trillion in total assets held.
• ICMIF delivers unique networking opportunities, market and member intelligence and external relations services. It takes a strong lead in encouraging best practice amongst its member firms in key insurance issues, including; performance management, legal and governance, marketing, brand and reputation, reinsurance and social and environmental performance.
• ICMIF is active in the microinsurance and Takaful sectors, with Takaful providing Shariah-compliant risk amelioration products to Islamic markets
• Follow ICMIF on Twitter at @ICMIF_micro and @ICMIF_Web
• Follow ICMIF on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/company/icmif

About CIC Insurance Group

For more than three decades, CIC Insurance Group has dependably shouldered the risks of the Kenyan people by providing insurance services that help plan for life stage needs.

Besides giving customers peace of mind, CIC continuously works towards living up to their commitment to safeguard the interests of individuals and businesses by paying claims promptly. CIC’s consistent adherence to their motto “We Keep Our Word” has made them the fastest growing insurance company in Kenya and the fifth largest insurer by market share.

A streak of product innovations such as M-Bima, a mobile phone based insurance premium remittance platform, has seen the Group emerge as a leading provider of microinsurance in Kenya.

Website: cic.co.ke