Insurance

One dollar invested in prevention saves four dollars that would be spent on a cure – protection in the form of insurance cover can pay off, and is something that development work is making increasing use of. Insurance policies are used, among other things, to protect against the consequences of climate change, but also against pandemics such as Ebola. Insurance allows development success to be secured in the long term. It is a key tool for achieving sustainable development objectives and implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Climate insurance funds as a flagship project

million euros has been invested in climate insurance funds to date. The global fund is to be further expanded over the next few years.

The fund protects small and medium-sized businesses and households by providing financial resources and technical expertise to help insurance companies and financial intermediaries develop climate protection products and further expand their product range.

Insurance against climate-related risks such as drought or floods

400

million people are to be provided with additional insurance protection against climate-related risks such as drought or floods by 2020 in line with an objective set by the G7 states.

KfW is also helping to ensure that this objective is met by launching a range of programmes on behalf of the Federal Government.

Access to adequate healthcare

100

million people are forced into poverty every year because they fall ill and have to pay for doctors and medication themselves.

This is why the international community has set the objective of providing everyone with access to adequate healthcare by 2030. Health insurance will play a key role in this context.

Insured events in Mauritania, Niger and Senegal in 2015

million US dollars was paid out, allowing emergency aid measures to be taken for 1.3 million people.

The countries were able to use the funds to finance animal feed and food supplies, for example.

Protection in the event of illness

49.5

million people are protected in the event of illness with the support of KfW on behalf of the Federal Government.

In 2012, African governments set up “African Risk Capacity” (ARC), an insurance approach that comes into play in extreme weather events and then makes funds swiftly available. Both individual countries and donors such as Germany and private insurance companies are involved in the project. To date, KfW has provided a total of USD 90 million in equity on a trust basis under mandate by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). One of the special things about ARC is that each government develops a contingency plan in advance that determines, how the funds will be used if needed.

At the end of 2016, ARC was enhanced to include what is known as replica coverage. It allows aid organisations to match the insurance coverage that a country purchases from ARC using its own funds.

Find out more

Find out more in an interview with Joanna Syroka, Director of Research and Development at African Risk Capacity (ARC)

Thousands of women in Tanzania are benefitting from a mother and child health insurance policy aimed at destitute pregnant women. The 450,000th woman was admitted to the insurance programme in 2016, enabling her to give birth to her child in a health centre or hospital. KfW Development Bank is currently providing the programme with a contribution of EUR 13 million on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Find out more: project information

Find out more: News

The biggest individual poverty risk in Pakistan is illness. This is because most people are not insured and have to pay for visits to the doctor and medication out of their own pockets. In order to alleviate this explosive social problem, the Pakistani government has decided to set up a health insurance system. KfW is using funds of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“BMZ”) worth EUR 10 million to support the programme.

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Insurance

Protection against drought

Preventative care for pregnant women in Tanzania

Health insurance for Pakistan

Financial Report 2016 (PDF)

KfW Stories

Insurance

Protection against drought

Preventative care for pregnant women in Tanzania

Health insurance for Pakistan

Financial Report 2016 (PDF)

KfW Stories

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