ENTREPRENEURSHIP CASE STUDY

Operating throughout Asia and Africa, MicroEnsure’s innovative SMS-based platform and
partnerships with mobile carriers enable customers to enroll in seconds and pay for the product
using pre-paid airtime. Claims can be submitted via a text message and are paid to the
customer’s “mobile wallet” within hours. The company’s insurance platforms have provided
more than 35 million customers in Africa and Asia with their first insurance policies over the
past five years.

The insurance industry has long struggled to provide cover for poor people. Low-income groups
represent a US$40 billion market opportunity. But as they face extensive risks and can only
1

afford tiny premiums, they tend to get overlooked. The lack of health insurance is particularly
acute, with penetration in Africa below 3% of the population. 2

After meeting a Zambian woman pushed into poverty by a family bereavement in 2001,
insurance broker Richard Leftley set out to find a better way of providing protection for the
vulnerable. Convinced there was a huge – and profitable – market for low-income insurance, he
quit his job and joined non-profit Opportunity International, charged with designing cover for
people living on a few dollars a day, and finding ways to distribute it.
3

Leftley’s move showed foresight, but he could hardly have predicted he’d wind up running a
business with over 40 million customers in 15 countries. In 2008, his hugely successful initiative
4

became for-profit venture MicroEnsure, which offers affordable health, life and disability
insurance in Africa and Asia. Its evolution from charitable exercise to commercial enterprise
5

shows what can be achieved by imagining new answers to existing problems – and finding the
right partners to make them reality.

Working with mobile phone networks to create a low-cost, mass distribution model,
MicroEnsure generates a massive risk pool to drive down premiums. Simplicity is key. Clients
6

can register in seconds, use phone credit to buy policies and submit claims via SMS.  Free 7

insurance is bundled with airtime, and customers can add extra cover via drop-down menus or
voice prompts. These methods are driving business for insurers, helping telecoms firms build
8

customer loyalty and bringing insurance to new groups: surveys suggest that for 86% of people
signed up for basic health cover through a partnership with pan-African telecoms firm Airtel, it is
their first policy of any kind.
9

As well as the innovative model, a string of key organisational decisions have helped build
MicroEnsure’s success. The 2008 switch to a commercial entity – able to operate flexibly and
access debt and equity financing – was one. Another came in 2012, when Opportunity
International relinquished its majority stake, allowing an infusion of capital from new investors
including IFC and AXA Group, which became the biggest shareholder in 2016. Such steps have
10

boosted customers, market reach and funds, and the company expects to break even on
investment in the mobile insurance model in 2017. Leftley predicts the approach will shake up
11

developed markets too, where making claims will eventually be “as easy as voting on The X
Factor”.12
 References
1
IFC. (2016) “Built for Change: Inclusive business solutions for the base of the
pyramid”. https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/44bbb896-2899-4ed3-9967-
204e1ff954d6/Built+for+Change_FINAL_low+res.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

2
USAID. (2016) “Special Edition 2016: Reaching Scale”. mHealth Compendium, May.
http://www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/mHealth-Compendium-Special-
Edition-2016-Reaching-Scale-.pdf.

3
IFC. (2016) “Built for Change: Inclusive business solutions for the base of the
pyramid”. https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/44bbb896-2899-4ed3-9967-
204e1ff954d6/Built+for+Change_FINAL_low+res.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

4
Ibid. 

5
Ibid.

6
Ibid.

Sustania.
7
“Affordable Health Insurance via SMS”.
http://solutions.sustainia.me/solutions/affordable-health-insurance-via-sms/.

8
IFC. (2016) “Built for Change: Inclusive business solutions for the base of the pyramid”. 
https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/44bbb896-2899-4ed3-9967-
204e1ff954d6/Built+for+Change_FINAL_low+res.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

9
USAID. (2016) “Special Edition 2016: Reaching Scale”. mHealth Compendium, May.
http://www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/mHealth-Compendium-Special-
Edition-2016-Reaching-Scale-.pdf.

IFC. (2016) “Built for Change: Inclusive business solutions for the base of the pyramid”. 
10

https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/44bbb896-2899-4ed3-9967-
204e1ff954d6/Built+for+Change_FINAL_low+res.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

USAID. (2016) “Special Edition 2016: Reaching Scale”. mHealth Compendium, May.
11

http://www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/mHealth-Compendium-Special-
Edition-2016-Reaching-Scale-.pdf.

Benson, R. (2016) “This startup is bringing insurance to the developing world”. Wired, 15 July.
12

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/microensure-insurance-asia-africa.