Mozambique’s first online insurance distribution solution, Askari Fintech, which launched in Mozambique this month, is set to transform the Mozambican and African insurance landscape.
The technology will facilitate the distribution and management of insurance products, as well as reduce administration costs, fraud, credit risk, bad debt and costs to consumers.
Askari’s executive chairman, Robert Lewis, says Askari Fintech raised access to $10m in funding from a consortium of investors led by the ICE Insurance Group and Kindle Insurance Technologies. “The capital will be used to fund expansion into Mozambique and other countries’ distribution platforms, marketing and further software development.”
The technology, which has taken seven years to develop, is expected to promote trust and confidence between insurers and their clients and will be rolled out to Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe later this year, with rapid expansion plans forging forward.
Lewis notes that, despite the tremendous benefit to African financial service businesses, distribution and blockchain technology has been slow to take off. “This is possibly due to the high costs associated with writing code and gathering data, which is time-consuming and expensive.”
The launch in Mozambique follows extensive experimentation and testing of the software, which resulted in a build-up of more than $200 000 worth of income to date.
Lewis says the technology, which leverages off the highly successful Kindle Insurance Technologies and ICE Insurance Group, will be accessible to all insurance participants and will lead to significant improvements in turnaround times for policy issuance and claims processing.
“The technology will allow users to obtain a quote and sign up for insurance from the convenience of their phones and laptops. In fact, the technology will allow them to obtain a quote in a mere three seconds, instead of waiting for days to be serviced at branches,” adds Lewis.
In addition, mini ATM-like machines for printing insurance certificate will be available at more than 200 service stations throughout Mozambique, making it the most accessible insurance solution for citizens, including people living outside the large cities.