In a significant development for Kenya’s insurance sector, Turaco, a local insurtech company, has partnered with M-KOPA, a pay-as-you-go financing startup, to embed microinsurance into M-KOPA’s smartphone offerings. This collaboration has resulted in providing insurance coverage to over one million customers in the country.
The partnership allows M-KOPA’s locally assembled, budget-friendly smartphones to include health insurance as part of their package. This innovative approach targets the underserved market segment, mainly composed of low-income earners and rural populations, by simplifying the process of obtaining insurance coverage.
Turaco’s initiative aims to tackle the challenges of high premiums and complex enrollment processes, which have historically hindered insurance uptake in Kenya. With traditional insurance covering just 3.1% of Kenya’s population outside the Social Health Insurance Fund, this tech-driven solution offers a potentially impactful means to increase coverage.
From M-KOPA’s perspective, the partnership aligns with its strategy of bundling financial solutions with its products, thereby enhancing customer value and providing additional financial protection. The initiative follows the company’s successful pilot with its sales agents and has already seen significant uptake, with 75% of customers previously lacking insurance.
This move represents a broader trend in Kenya’s tech industry, where startups are embedding insurance into their services to address low penetration rates effectively. As such, the collaboration between Turaco and M-KOPA could serve as a model for similar initiatives in the region.
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