MicroEnsure Ghana

MicroEnsure Ghana is a microinsurance broker that provides insurance to low-income Ghanaians, leveraging partnerships and mobile technology to reach the mass market. They offer products like Family Care Insurance in partnership with Tigo, a major telecommunications company. This partnership helped them achieve significant scale and financial sustainability, insuring over a million lives by December 2012.

The organization has faced multiple challenges, such as balancing commercial partnerships with their social mission of serving low-income individuals. Initially partnering with microfinance institutions, MicroEnsure Ghana had to consider the implications of working with profit-maximizing entities like Tigo, which might attract higher-income clients and threaten their social objectives. Achieving financial viability with small premiums was also a hurdle.

MicroEnsure Ghana explored several options to overcome these challenges. Forming new partnerships with churches, industries, and commercial banks were considered. However, each option had drawbacks, such as industries already providing insurance to employees, churches being reluctant to involve themselves with financial products, and commercial banks potentially shifting the focus to higher-income clients.