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Banking / Insurance

aYo partners with MTN to launch insurance for all Ivorians

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Panel Guests: From the left: Laurent Koffi Senior Manager Segments Mobile Financial Service of MTN Cote d’lvoire; Jean-Charles N’Gotta CEO of aYo Cote d’lvoire; Marius Botha Group CEO of aYo Holdings; Philippe Attobra CEO of Sanlam Assurance Vie (Image: Karli Stock)

aYo Holdings, African microinsurance fintech together with telecommunications giant MTN and Sanlam Life has launched two innovative insurance products in Côte d’Ivoire that will contribute towards MTN subscribers enjoying peace of mind.

CEO of aYo Intermediaries Cote d’Ivoire Limited, Jean-Charles N’Gotta, said: “It is estimated that less than 2% of the Ivorian population currently has insurance. This is because most people think insurance is only for white collar workers with high incomes. We want to show that with aYo services, people with all levels of income can get peace of mind at an affordable cost to help take care of their financial health even after hospital bills due to an accident or illness, or their funeral expenses if the unforeseen happens and they pass away.”

Two basic products will be available at launch once consumers sign up to aYo:

aYo Recharge+ rewards MTN MoMo (Mobile Money) users by offering free accidental hospitalisation cover and life cover each time customers purchase airtime via MoMo. Customers can also take advantage of the AutoBoost, paid-for, functionality to get even more cover with every MTN airtime recharge.

With the free component of aYo Recharge+, each time a customer uses their MoMo wallet to recharge airtime, they get 8 times that amount as accident cover and 12 times that amount as life cover. When they take advantage of AutoBoost to buy additional cover (from 25 CFA to 300 CFA), this amount is multiplied by 200 for additional accident hospitalisation cover and by 300 for additional life cover.

aYo Kash+ offers cover for illness and accidental hospitalisations as well as life cover each time a consumer sends money, pays utility bills or school fees via MTN MoMo. Each time a customer makes a person-to-person money transfer or pays a bill using MTN MoMo, they get illness cover equal to the amount they spend in that transaction, accident and life covers for three times the amount transacted by paying a 5% premium. When they pay school fees using MTN MoMo, they get life cover for twice the amount transacted by paying a 2% premium.

Getting cover and claiming is as easy as using the aYo progressive web app from your mobile phone by visiting www.ayo.co.ci. Signing up, interacting, and claiming all happens without the need for any physical paperwork. When claiming, the required documents can be attached and sent via WhatsApp too.

aYo launched in January 2017 in Uganda and has reached more than 14 million customers across Uganda, Ghana and Zambia. The company has paid in excess of over $1 million in claims.

“Insurance, and the peace of mind it provides, has become more important than ever in today’s fast-paced world, where risks are a part of our daily lives. You never know when you will have to pay to get back on your feet after an accident or an illness. Often, the cost is so large that it goes beyond your immediate financial capacity, and that is where aYo and our innovative products will be most helpful,” said Jean-Charles N’Gotta.

 

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Banking / Insurance

Dr. Awele Elumelu Calls for Increased Female Leadership in the Insurance Sector

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L-R: Lady Margaret Moore, President, Africa Insurance Women Association and Dr. Awele V. Elumelu OFR, Chairperson, Heirs Insurance Brokers and Avon HMO (Photo: Supplied)

At the recently concluded International Conference for Women in Insurance, Dr. Awele V. Elumelu, OFR, Chairperson, Heirs Insurance Brokers (a member of Heirs Insurance Group) and Chairperson Avon HMO, joined other female business leaders in the call for gender parity and more women in leadership in Nigeria’s insurance industry.

Held at the Lagos Continental Hotel, the conference was organised by the African Insurance Women Association (AIWA) and gathered industry professionals, policymakers, and advocates to discuss ways to advance women’s participation in insurance and at the helm of leadership.

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Heirs Insurance Group played a key role as lead sponsor as part of its vision to drive gender inclusion across all levels.

In her keynote address, “The Future of Insurance: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities,” Dr. Elumelu emphasised that female leadership is both a strategic advantage and an ethical imperative.

She said: “The urgency to bring more women into this field is clear. Women bring fresh perspectives and empathy, and these are essential for designing inclusive, people-centred solutions.”

Dr. Elumelu highlighted the low insurance penetration of the African insurance industry, currently below 3%, as a significant growth opportunity. She stressed the potential of digital solutions and microinsurance to enhance accessibility and inclusion.

She said: “With our young, tech-savvy population, we have a unique chance to build products that truly resonate with Africans, especially through mobile technology, which can help reach underserved communities and foster financial literacy among younger generations.”

She concluded by calling for stronger public-private partnerships to foster regulatory innovation and enhance customer trust, saying: “A collaborative approach between industry players, regulators, and local communities will set the stage for a resilient and inclusive insurance sector that can drive economic growth across Africa.”

Speaking at the conference, Lady Margaret Moore, President of the Africa Insurance Women Association, stated, “This landmark event, the first of its kind, brings together African women in insurance to empower and inspire one another. The conference aims to foster connections, share knowledge, and promote collaboration across the industry.”

Heirs Insurance Group is the insurance subsidiary of Heirs Holdings, the leading pan-African investment company, with investments across 24 countries and four continents. With a rapidly expanding retail footprint and an omnichannel digital presence, Heirs Insurance Group serves both corporate and individual customers across Nigeria.

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Banking / Insurance

aYo diversifies insurance payment options with Revio

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aYo Chief Operations Officer, Miles Bloemstein and Revio’s co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Nicole Dunn

African insurtech aYo Holdings, jointly owned by telecommunications giant MTN and insurer Sanlam Allianz, is pioneering omnichannel insurance premium collections and claims payouts, through a partnership with payment orchestrator, Revio. This development will make it easier for aYo’s millions of customers to pay for life and hospital cash insurance by choosing their preferred method from a range of locally relevant payment options, in addition to MTN mobile money and airtime currently offered by aYo in its seven markets across the continent.

The additional payments capabilities, facilitated via Revio in its respective markets, will allow aYo to offer greater choice to existing and new clients, boosting both sales and retention.

Miles Bloemstein, aYo’s Chief Operations Officer, who is championing the omnichannel payment strategy was inspired by the growth in alternative payment methods and adoption across the continent.  While Africa’s digital payment transactions are growing 16% year-on-year – and are projected to reach $146 billion in 2023 – the continent’s payment landscape is notoriously complex and fragmented, with few universal and interoperable payment methods available.

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“Localisation of payments and collections is key to business success in Africa. Our team has spent significant time in our different markets to understand local payment preferences and cultures, and the feedback is clear – payment methods matter. If customers do not see the payment methods they trust and prefer, they will not buy the product.,” said Bloemstein. Whilst MTN payment options remain the core of its strategy, aYo believes omni-payments, in addition to omni-channel delivery, is key to success in its digital insurance ecosystem.

Revio’s co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Nicole Dunn, shared, “It’s fantastic to see market leaders like aYo adopting such a customer-centric approach to collections and payments. Today, the customer payment experience is almost as important as the customer experience of the product. aYo’s team deeply understands its customer base and has invested in the capabilities to reach new customers and retain them for longer. We’re excited to support them on this journey.”

Revio, which recently raised $5.2 million in funding from leading investors QED Investors and Partech, aims to reduce the complexity, cost, and risk of payment operations in Africa. Its single API is pre-integrated with more than 50 payment methods, with the ability to selectively expose methods and route transactions based on success rates and local adoption.

“Africa’s collection challenges are complex and unique. By helping aYo collect revenue from its customers using their preferred payment methods, we not only increase payment success rates, but reduce lapse rates and churn,” said Dunn.

The partnership will reduce aYo’s integration effort to launch new markets, and ongoing operational cost associated with managing multiple payment methods and providers. It is estimated that it will save at least 10 months’ development effort per market. In the process, aYo will reduce integration and setup costs considerably through a single integration project for all of the company’s existing markets.

The partnership is live in Nigeria and will soon be launching in aYo’s other markets. Not only will aYo customers have access to more localised and accessible payment methods for premium collections, but also payouts. Together with Revio, aYo has solutioned a new payouts process that offers multiple payout options to customers for the payment of claims, giving customers and beneficiaries options in respect of how they receive their claim payout, shared Bloemstein.

Since starting operations in 2017, aYo has evolved into a major player in the African microinsurance market, using a ‘pay as you go’ insurance model that gives policyholders the flexibility to have the cover they need at any given time. Its vision is to grow into the largest insurance technology platform in Africa by providing a range of affordable and accessible financial services products

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Banking / Insurance

aYo Zambia launches Illness Cover as it looks to drive insurance uptake

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Microinsurer aYo Zambia has launched a new General Illness Cover product, which will provide cover for customers who spend up to three days in hospital because of sickness or disease, as it looks to drive greater insurance penetration in the country.

The new illness cover is an extension of the company’s existing ‘Recharge with Care’ product, which provides hospital cover for customers if they are involved in an accident.

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“To date, more than 3.5 million Zambian consumers have purchased cover to protect themselves against hospitalisation in the event of injury, or loss of life,” said aYo Zambia CEO Andrew Nkolola. “But many of our customers have been asking us: ‘How will we deal with the financial blow of falling ill? We don’t want benefits only when we’re in an accident.’ We realised it was a huge gap in the market and have responded accordingly.”

Nkolola says aYo Zambia is committed to contributing to the growth of insurance in the country. Earlier this year, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane expressed his concern over Zambia’s low insurance penetration levels, which leaves millions of Zambians without cover if a disaster strikes.

When it first launched in Zambia, aYo offered hospital and life cover to individuals through two insurance products, ‘Send with Care’ and ‘Recharge with Care’. A growing market demand for insurance for the whole family prompted the company to create the new Family Cover product last year, which allows policy holders to add up to seven people, including themselves.

Now, the new General Illness Cover adds a further layer of protection that helps ordinary Zambians stay afloat when the unexpected happens. It pays up to K3,250 if a policyholder is hospitalised through illness.

As with aYo’s existing products, General Illness Cover customers must maintain active Mobile Money (MoMo) accounts to pay premiums and claim. Customers can sign up and claim by dialling the USSD code *296# on their mobile phones and following the prompts. They can also claim using ayo4u.com/zm. All Family Cover claims are paid directly to the claimant’s mobile money wallet without any hassles.

aYo Zambia has been voted best microinsurance product of the year for both 2021 and 2022.

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