Project Description
Activities will be organized under three main components, described below:
COMPONENT 1: DIGITAL AND AGRI FINANCE COMPONENT
A review of Zep Re and its subsidiary ACRE Africa's operations to gain a better understanding of their business and to assess the business model, products, distribution, strategy and feasibility of a collaboration with financial institutions.
This will comprise of an internal assessment to understand the existing strategy, business model, value proposition, distribution channels, data analytics, and other operational elements. It will also involve an external assessment, i.e. a review of ACRE's market selection rationale, competitive environment, partnerships, regulatory environment, and customer insights on the existing value proposition.
COMPONENT 2: SME SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT
The objective of this component will be to support Zep Re and ATIDI in refining the SME value proposition developed under the Kenya SME Insurance diagnostic to define a joint solution. It will also support the clients in conducting market fit tests in the other priority countries agreed on with IFC in preparation for pilot testing in those countries. This will be done in close collaboration with selected financial institutions (FIs), with the objective of developing solutions that can be readily embedded into SME financing.
IFC research has shown great promise for women's insurance in emerging markets. Therefore, this component will also identify and incorporate the needs of women-owned SMEs into the value proposition refinement process.
COMPONENT 3: OTHER SUPPORT/CAPACITY BUILDING
Under this component, IFC will conduct a rapid diagnostic of ATIDI to better understand the insurer's SME business model and strategy and assess Zep Re's readiness to serve women. IFC will also provide gender intelligence training to Zep Re, and training on SME engagement strategies and related topics to ATIDI.