Leadway Assurance covers 51,000 corporate, individuals on health insurance

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Leadway Assurance is said to cover over 51,000 clients in both corporate, and individuals on health insurance since the company ventured into arm of business

Speaking at a virtual Leadway Assurance Media training for insurance journalists in Lagos recently, the head, Medical Services, Leadway Health, Dr. Temitope Falaiye made this known while staying that on the government said 19 states are currently in the health insurance.

“The growth of the company has been exponential with over 51,000 enrollees spread across the country (inclusive of corporate, retail and NHIS,” he stressed.

Falaiye stated that Nigeria spends a relatively small proportion of national income, translating to about 4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) on health against the agreed 15 per cent  at the 2001 Abuja Declaration.

Stressing that Out-of-pocket expenditure on health is amongst the highest in the world put at  77.23 percent of total health expenditure and the highest in Africa, he added that a voluntary National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) exists in Nigeria but covers less than 5 percent of the population, saying, Nigeria’s informal economy, which accounts for more than 60 per cent  of its total GDP is still largely uncovered.

“To bridge the coverage gap, several states have commenced the establishment of State Health Insurance Schemes. Presently, about 19 states are at various stages of their implementation journey. Anambra, Delta and Lagos state have particularly made significant progress in enrollment. Private Health insurance accounts for less than 3 percent of the Nigerian population,” he pointed out.

Explaining that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to achieving Universal Health Coverage(UHC) as strategies will depend on local circumstances, he said, improving Universal Health Coverage requires addressing building blocks of health systems with a proper roadmap from policy, implementation and monitoring

 Highlighting the  challenges of universal health coverage in Nigeria,he listed underfunding and skewed funding allocation in favour of secondary and tertiary care as against primary healthcare, as well as poor public financial management

Others, he listed include; ” limited political commitment to health and primary healthcare, poor policy formulation, lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities at different levels of the system, lack of measures to assess quality of care, lack of confidence in healthcare systems and human resource shortages (workforce)”

Falaiye advocated for diversification of sources of funding, increased funding for primary healthcare services through public-private partnership, even as he suggested State funded private health insurance in collaboration with private Health Management Organisations(HMOs)

Calling for better funding/incentives for health providers in rural communities, he stated that there must be fraud prevention and systems to check corruption.

Stating that improved government commitment to health especially at the state and local level is germane, he called for research based policies, formulation of a national UHC roadmap involving national, state and international partners, better collaboration between the public and private sector, among others.

Governments, he advised, should create an enabling environment to promote Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) support towards UHC initiatives, while advocating implementation of a monitoring and evaluation framework with data from key UHC indicators.

While speaking on Leadway Health, which officially, started operation on the 1st of January, 2021, he said, the HMO is made up of highly experienced, technology savvy health insurance professionals who are driven to change the perspective of health insurance in Nigeria.

“At the onset, we analyzed the customer journey, identified pain points and deployed targeted solutions to ensure a best in class experience for both health providers and clients.

Earlier, Principal Investment & Strategy, Leadway Assurance, Joshua Ogbeifun, had charged journalists on the need to deepen insurance awareness and education through their write-ups, saying, though, insurance journalists have tried in this regards, but that they can improve on this to increase insurance adoption and penetration as well as insurance industry profitability.

Similarly, at the event, Mr. Gbolahan Oluyemi of the Leadway Capital & Trusts Ltd, while making presentation on Understanding Wills and Trusteeship, advised Nigerians on Estate planning which is the preparation and planning to manage an individual’s asset base after their demise or incapacitation.

According to him, “There are different modes of Estate Planning and they include, Trust, Inter vivos gifts and Wills.A Trusts is an arrangement whereby a person transfers an asset to a person (Trustee) to hold in trust for the benefit of a third party (Beneficiary). A Will is a legal document by which an adult expresses how he/she wants his/her assets/property to be distributed after his/her death.”

Explaining the importance of will writing, he said, this ensures that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes, offers protection for your beneficiaries, excuses the need for Letters of Administration, contains an inventory of assets and reduces fraud in the succession process as well as Ease access to the Retirement Savings.

Casava secures $4m pre-seed funding to provide micro-insurance for Nigerians

By Favour Nnabugwui

 

Nigeria’s first 100 percent digital insurance company, casava, has secured $4 million in pre-seed funding to provide affordable and accessible insurance products for millions of Nigerians.

Starting with income protection and health insurance, the insurtech startup is leveraging artificial intelligence and behavioural science to deliver game-changing claims and benefits products.The new funds will support customer acquisition and growth, as well as further development of the product and the technology stack.

The funding round, the largest pre-seed round for an African insurtech to date, was led by Target Global with participation from Entrée Capital, Oliver Jung, Tom Blomfield (Founder of Monzo) and Ed Robinson and Brandon Krieg (Founders of Stash). African founders such as Uche Pedro (Founder of BellaNaija), Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha (Founders of Kuda), Shola Akinlade (Co-founder of Paystack), Olugbenga “GB” Agboola (Co-founder of Flutterwave), Honey Ogundeyi (Founder of Edukoya), Opeyemi Awoyemi (Co-founder of Jobberman) and others also participated in the round.

Casava is led by Bode Pedro, a veteran entrepreneur that has built many successful companies, including Veda Technology, one of Nigeria’s premiere computer hardware manufacturers. Segun Makinde, former VP at JPMorgan Chase and former Portfolio Manager for Nigeria at MEST Africa is the company’s Chief Operating Officer. The startup launched in April 2021 and already has more than 66,000 customers, with $16 million in insurance coverage.

Casava is Nigeria’s first licensed microinsurance underwriter, creating insurance products that make it easier for income earners across the country to protect themselves against life’s unforeseen events, including job loss and health emergencies.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, around 20% of workers in Nigeria lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19. With unemployment insurance unavailable in Nigeria, these workers are largely left to their own devices to make ends meet between jobs.

With Casava Income Protection, subscribers can insure their income with an easy-to-use subscription that starts from as little as $1 a month, and get paid monthly for 6 months if they lose their job, fall sick or become disabled. Subscribers can also add on Casava Health, which enables access to more than 1,000 doctors on telemedicine and 900 hospitals across Nigeria.

Consumers can subscribe to Casava’s insurance products directly via the website, mobile app or WhatsApp. It will also be working with fintech and digital partners to embed insurance products into their offerings, accessing over 500,000 financial service agents to reach customers across the country. Casava will empower these agents to offer insurance and earn commissions from the customers from their customers on a recurring basis.

“Our mission is to provide affordable insurance for Nigerians and other Africans and we are happy to have raised these funds from an exciting group of investors, “ says Bode Pedro, Founder and CEO of Casava, “With less than 1% of the country insured, Nigeria (and Africa) is an untapped insurance market. We want to address the barriers that hinder adoption and add value to consumers across the country.”

Commenting on the funding, Dr. Ricardo Schäfer, a partner at Target Global said, “Bode and the team have recognised a great opportunity to address a longstanding problem for many Nigerians and Africans and we are excited to support their mission to make insurance more accessible. One of the first of their kind in the region, Casava has the potential to transform the lives and livelihood of millions of people.”

“The Casava team has developed a unique and disruptive product that we believe has the potential to transform Africa’s insurance market,” adds Avi Eyal, General Partner at Entrée Capital. “We are confident in the Casava team that they have what it takes to be leaders in this field.”

About Casava

Casava is Nigeria’s 1st 100% digital insurance company and the fastest growing insurtech startup in Africa. We are making insurance affordable for income earners and protecting against key life uncertainties.

We are digitally rebuilding insurance from the ground up with our unique business model and an emphasis on great customer experiences to make it more data driven, accessible and socially impactful. By leveraging technology, behavioural science and empathy, we will provide insurance with a great user experience, amazing value and instant benefits. To that end, we have built a vertically integrated company with a wholly-owned microinsurance carrier in Nigeria and a full technology stack to power it.