Airteltigo Partners BIMA To Deepen Insurance Inclusion In Ghana

Ghana’s second-largest mobile operator, AirtelTigo, has partnered with BIMA, the country’s leading provider of mobile delivered health and insurance services to provide customers with access to simple and affordable insurance products and rapidly widen insurance inclusion in Ghana.

The AirtelTigo Insurance programme covers over 2 million lives in Ghana. The policies provide life, hospital or accidental cover for a customer and one family member for as low as 10 pesewas daily. Furthermore, customers can now process their claims digitally from the comfort of their homes using WhatsApp.

“We are very proud of our role as a key development partner with BIMA to offer great solutions to Ghanaians. The new partnership with BIMA further consolidates our financial inclusion proposition and marks another innovation in the Ghanaian telecom industry,” said Murthy Chaganti, the Chief Operating Officer of AirtelTigo Ghana, at the opening of BIMA’s new head office in Alajo, a suburb of Accra.

Mr. Chaganti highlighted the company’s long-term commitment to reaching the uninsured population through mobile insurance, adding that “through this partnership, affordable and easy-to-use insurance solutions will be used to help Ghanaians countrywide”.

With BIMA’s mobile insurance technology, customers can sign up for insurance and health services from their mobile phones and pay premiums through small daily payments. The model created in Ghana has since scaled-up to 15 markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America, reaching 26M subscribers worldwide.

“We are pleased to celebrate this milestone with our partners AirtelTigo and Prudential Life”, said Damien Gueroult, Country Manager of BIMA Ghana. “From our start in 2010 with a dozen of employees to this day, BIMA has been a true Ghanaian success story. This partnership and the inauguration of our new office opens a new page of expansion for BIMA in Ghana”.

Mr Gueroult also thanked the regulators, particularly the National Insurance Commission and the Bank of Ghana, without whose supervision mobile-delivered insurance wouldn’t be a success in Ghana. Mr Seth Eshun, Head of Supervision of the National Insurance Commission said that, “the accessibility and affordability of AirtelTigo Insurance products has played a key role in helping drive the insurance coverage rate in Ghana from 8% in 2010 to about 30% in 2017”.

Speaking at the event, Emmanuel Mokobi Aryee, the Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Life, the underwriter, disclosed that over 35,000 customers have received payouts worth over GHS15 million since the beginning of the partnership. “We are proud of delivering value to customers when they undergo challenging times by paying claims in a quick and efficient manner” Mr. Mokobi Aryee told the gathering.

About AirtelTigo
On March 3, 2017, Millicom International Cellular S.A., ‘Millicom’ and Bharti Airtel Limited ‘Airtel’, announced their intent to merge their operations in Ghana. This was subsequently approved by the government of Ghana on October 2, 2017. As per the shareholders agreement, Millicom and Airtel have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity which has been rebranded as AirtelTigo. AirtelTigo is the second largest Mobile Network Operator in Ghana with a combined customer base of approximately 10 million. By integrating the two networks, the combined business is expected to provide Ghanaian customers with a major boost in both rural and urban network coverage – in turn translating into better voice quality, high speed data services and reinforced network stability and resilience. With the combined fibre footprint and increased data centres, enterprise customers including both, large corporations and SMEs, would have access to a diverse portfolio of world class solutions. Mobile Financial Services is also expected to be greatly enhanced with combined agent networks and platforms. www.airteltigo.com.gh

About BIMA:
BIMA uses mobile technology to deliver affordable insurance and health products to underserved consumers and families in emerging markets who cannot access these vital products through traditional channels. BIMA’s technology platforms create a paperless experience and enable scale, while the agent force distributes products and provides customer education. This tech-enabled approach is the key to BIMA’s growth, reaching 26 million subscribers in 15 markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America. BIMA proves that it is possible to service the bottom of the pyramid profitability and sustainably.

BIMA Ghana launched its operations in 2010 with the mobile operator Tigo (now AirtelTigo). Through this partnership, BIMA provides over 2 million Ghanaians with insurance. In 2014, BIMA also launched own-branded insurance products to widen access to all Ghanaian families. BIMA offers life, hospital and accident insurance policies underwritten by Prudential Life, and the BIMA Doctor service, providing medical advice over the phone. BIMA’s mission is to provide affordable, easy-to-use and accessible insurance and health services to under-served families to protect them against unforeseen circumstances.