Turaco and VisionFund International have signed a global partnership to expand access to affordable microinsurance for low-income families across Africa.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) builds on the two organisations’ existing collaboration in Kenya and Uganda, where their insurance products have covered about 250,000 people.
Under the agreement, the partners will expand insurance products distributed through VisionFund’s microfinance institutions and integrate insurance into World Vision programmes as a tool to help families manage financial shocks.
Kenya and Uganda will remain the anchor markets, with Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Rwanda identified as potential first markets for expansion. The partnership will also support other microfinance institutions and organisations to integrate insurance into their operations.
Turaco and VisionFund also plan to develop products focused on preventive and outpatient healthcare, with the aim of helping families access care before illnesses develop into major financial shocks.
The two organisations will draw on VisionFund’s experience in Latin America and Asia to inform product development across their markets.
Turaco CEO and Co-Founder Ted Pantone said the partnership will build on the model developed through the organisations’ work in Kenya and Uganda.
“Our work with VisionFund in Kenya and Uganda has shown us what is possible when insurance is built into the financial products families already trust,” said Pantone.
VisionFund International CEO Edgar Martinez said the partnership will help extend insurance protection to more families facing shocks linked to illness, death, disability and climate events.
“This global partnership lets us bring that protection to many more of the families VisionFund serves, and to learn together how to reach them even earlier, before a crisis hits,” he said.
