A2II SECRETARIAT
Matthias Range, Executive Director
As Executive Director, Matthias is responsible for the overall performance and development of the initiative and ensuring that it serves its target group at the most professional level.
Matthias Range has nearly two decades of expertise in strategic planning and implementation of various projects in the realm of inclusive finance and insurance, climate and disaster risk management/insurance, and private sector development with GIZ. In his last position at GIZ he headed the unit dealing with Risk Finance and Insurance.
Over the last 12 years, Matthias was responsible for building up the insurance portfolio at GIZ, developed G7 Initiatives, partnerships and several fundamental concepts. He started his career within the reconstruction after the Tsunami in 2004 in Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia. With more than 20 publications and numerous contributions to international conferences, holding memberships of advisory boards (such as Toronto Centre’s Insurance and Pensions Advisory Board (IPAB), CGAP, IDF, UC Davis, and ICII, among others) and working experience in over 70 countries, Matthias Range is a recognised expert within the international development community.
He holds degrees in business administration with a focus on international marketing and change management at NUS Singapore and RWTH Aachen. He and his family live close to the mountains in Bavaria’s capital Munich.
Teresa Pelanda, Advisor
Teresa Pelanda joined the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) in 2014. She is the lead contact for Central & Eastern Europe and the Caribbean region, responsible for A2ii’s implementation activities and cooperation with supervisors and regional associations. Since 2020 she has been responsible for the project management of A2ii’s Inclusive Insurance Innovation Labs (iii-labs), a format that provides space for intensive collaboration between key stakeholders of the inclusive insurance space in a year-long process and in four different countries. Prior to A2ii Teresa worked as a consultant on inclusive insurance topics in Germany and Peru. She holds a Master of Science in Regional Studies of Latin America from the University of Cologne, Germany and Guadalajara, Mexico with a focus on economics and cooperative studies. She is fluent in German, Spanish and English.
Milena Kozomara, Advisor
Milena is responsible for the sustainability issues and is the gender focal point within A2ii Secretariat. Before joining the A2ii, Milena worked as a Project Development Manager for Green Climate Fund at GIZ. Prior to that, she worked on environment, climate and energy topics at the UN system for various UNDP offices, UN Women and UN FAO. She holds a master’s degree in International Environmental Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (California, US).
Laura Moxter Morales, Advisor
Laura is the current lead of the Climate portfolio and supports the Communications workstream at A2ii. She previously worked in the organisation of the A2ii-IAIS Dialogues, as well as on the delivery of capacity building programmes and events.
She first joined the A2ii team as an intern in January 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology by the Autonomous University of Madrid and a master’s degree in Latin American Studies by the Freie University of Berlin. She is fluent in English, Spanish and German.
Monica Odhiambo, Advisor
Monica holds a master's in Insurance and Risk Management from Bayes Business School and a Bachelor of Economics and Statistics from the University of Nairobi.
She has over seven years of experience in insurance supervision. Prior to her role at the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), Monica served at the Kenyan Insurance Regulator. There, she was involved in the prudential supervision of insurers, contributed to the development of regulations and policies, and implemented capacity-building initiatives for various stakeholders. Currently, Monica leads the inclusive insurance fundamentals portfolio at A2ii and serves as the regional contact person for Sub-Saharan Africa. She plays a pivotal role in coordinating regional efforts and fostering partnerships aimed at enhancing access to insurance services. Monica is also an esteemed associate of the Life Management Institute.
Asmaa Jabri, Advisor
Asmaa Jabri joined A2ii as an Advisor in September 2024. She contributes to multiple portfolios of A2ii, including Climate & Disaster Risk, Inclusive Insurance Fundamentals, and Gender. Prior to A2ii, Asmaa served as the Director of Prudential Control of Insurance and Advisor to the Chairman at the Supervisory Authority of Insurance and Social Welfare (ACAPS) in Morocco from 2019 to 2023. In this role, she led the transformation of management practices, established control plans, and contributed to studies on climate risks and cyber security in the insurance sector.
Asmaa's extensive experience includes heading the Risk-Based Solvency project at ACAPS, where she directed the design of a risk-based prudential framework. Her career spans over two decades in the insurance industry, where she held various leadership roles in actuarial, risk management, and internal audit functions across multiple insurance companies. She holds a Risk Management Expertise (ERM) & Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) credential from the French Institute of Actuaries (Paris) and completed a second-year master's program in statistics and stochastic models at The University of Rennes. Asmaa is fluent in French and English.
Mario Wetzel, Advisor
Mario joined GIZ's Risk Finance and Insurance team in January 2024. He supports the A2ii Inclusive Insurance Innovation Labs, especially the in-country process in Nepal.
Prior to joining GIZ and A2ii, Mario worked as a natural catastrophe modeller in the reinsurance industry (R+V Re), focusing on hydro-meteorological and geological catastrophe risk assessment in the Latin American, Caribbean and Swiss markets.
Mario holds an M.Sc. in "Environmental Risks and Human Security" from the United Nations University (UNU-EHS) and the University of Bonn, Germany. He is fluent in German, English, and Spanish.
Laurin Sponheuer, Advisor
Laurin joined GIZ’s Risk Finance and Insurance team in January 2023. He works around the topics of Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance (CDRFI) and the Global Shield against Climate Risks. He co-leads A2ii’s Climate Portfolio. Laurin holds a MSc degree in Development Economics and has previously worked for KfW and the United Nations Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and is fluent is German, English and Spanish.
Joscha Sisnowski, Junior Advisor
Joscha joined the A2ii secretariat as a Junior Advisor in March 2023. He holds a Bachelor (Hons.) in International Politics and Global Development from Aberystwyth University and is pursuing a double degree in Public Policy and Human Development at the United Nations University. Prior to joining the A2ii, Joscha worked in Haiti on local capacity development. He speaks German, English and French.
Kitti Fodor, Intern
Kitti joined A2ii in July 2024, and she is supporting the work of the Climate Portfolio, the online and in-person events of the iii-lab, and communications. She is a Master's student in International Development at Sciences Po, Paris, with a focus on environmental issues and sustainability. Prior to joining A2ii, Kitti has gained experience in the field of inclusive, climate- & biodiversity-positive financing of rural and vulnerable populations, hence her commitment to climate resilience and inclusion. She speaks English, Spanish, French and Hungarian.
Tinotenda Muradzikwa, Intern
Tinotenda holds a Master of Science in Economics and Institutions from Philipps Marburg University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Africa University. With experience in the banking sector, asset management, and an innovation venture capital hub in Germany, Tinotenda brings a diverse skill set to their role at A2ii. Additionally, Tinotenda has served as a student tutor for innovation economics and sustainability, underscoring a commitment to academic rigor and economic advancement. Currently, Tinotenda focuses on supporting inclusive insurance fundamentals and gender/diversity portfolios.
Ronaldo Limbago, Regional Coordinator for Asia
Ronnie is responsible primarily for relationship management with Asian supervisors, including enhancing their capacities in inclusive insurance through A2ii offerings.
His background is in training and capacity development. He previously held positions at the Philippine Trade Training Center, focusing on MSMEs, InWEnt (Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung), where he handled projects on social accountability and microfinance in the Philippines and Indonesia, the GIZ Office Manila, and most recently, the Regulatory Framework Promotion of Pro-poor Insurance Markets in Asia III (RFPI Asia III), where he has worked on disaster risk insurance, Covid-19 emergency support measures for MSMEs, and agriculture insurance.
Ronnie graduated with a Bachelor Science in Commerce with a major in Business Administration from the University of Santo Tomas, the Philippines’ oldest university. From 1994 to 1996, Ronnie undertook a scholarship on the International Marketing of Furniture to Germany sponsored by CDG-Germany and implemented by the Export Akademie in Reutlingen. He has since served as an alumni coordinator of Philippine-German alumni as partners of German institutions for development cooperation. He speaks English, Pilipino, and German.
Regina Simões, Regional Coordinator for Latin America
Regina Simões is responsible for liaising with Latin American supervisors, aiming to develop their capacity and understanding to facilitate the promotion of inclusive and responsible insurance.
Prior to joining the A2ii team, Regina worked at the Superintendence of Private Insurance (SUSEP) of Brazil, where she held various leadership positions. As the International Relations Coordinator, she liaised with international bodies and supervisory associations and was member of the Brazilian Delegations at the Financial Services Group Meetings in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Insurance Commission/SGT-4 at Mercosul. Since 2006, she has been engaged in financial inclusion activities, being member of relevant working groups, including the IAIS Financial Inclusion Sub-committee and the SUSEP Microinsurance Working Group, which set up the first set of microinsurance regulations in Brazil. As a member of the IAIS-MIN Joint Working Group on Microinsurance (Acting Chair from 2008-2012), she strongly supported the creation of the A2ii, launched in 2009, in Rio de Janeiro.
Regina holds a degree in Architecture, an MBA in Finance, and a postgraduate degree in Planning Engineering with emphasis in Pension Funds.
Mariana Aigner, Financial Manager
Mariana is responsible for the financial steering and controlling of the A2ii, i.e. for budget planning, monitoring, contracting and financial reporting to A2ii funders and the Governing Council. Before joining the A2ii, Mariana worked in various administrative support structures in GIZ (project financial management, internal control, contracting) and as management assistant of the head of GIZ´s sectoral department. She holds a diploma in business administration and speaks German, English and Spanish fluently.
Pia Guyot, Financial Manager
Pia joined the A2ii secretariat in January 2023. She supports the team in all commercial and administrative matters, in particular regarding the preparation and processing of contracts. Before joining the A2ii she was working for several international companies in the private sector in France and in Germany. She speaks German, French and English.
Maria Döll, Office Manager
Maria is responsible for the administrative and back-office procedures as well as for events logistics. Before joining the A2ii secretariat team in 2017, Maria worked in the private sector for different B2C companies, mainly in the areas of international sales and project assistance.
Maria holds a Master´s degree in International Business Administration and speaks German, English, Danish and Italian.
Consultants
Hui Lin Chiew
Hui Lin has worked closely with the A2ii since 2016 on capacity building initiatives for insurance regulators, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. She started her career at Bank Negara Malaysia in 2011 working on financial inclusion and market development policy. A highlight was designing the national inclusive insurance regulatory framework which brought insurance to over 1 million people. Aside from A2ii and regulatory work, Hui Lin also drives projects in the tech and climate risk insurance space, including a UN World Food Programme pilot. Hui Lin graduated from the University of Warwick with a BSc. in Accounting and Finance.
Renata De Leers, Regional Coordinator for MENA and CIMA
Renata is responsible primarily for relationship management with supervisors in the MENA/CIMA region, including enhancing their capacities in inclusive insurance through A2ii offerings. Renata brings a wealth of experience, spanning over forty years, as a global actuary. She has spent more than thirty years honing her expertise in the unique contexts of the Middle East and Africa, offering a global perspective and diverse insights.
She works for various stakeholders, from the supervisor to the consumer, addressing regulatory, actuarial, operational, and educational aspects for insurers, social security institutions, and pension funds. She assists insurance supervisors in drafting and implementing regulatory frameworks for conventional, Islamic, inclusive insurance, index-based insurance, and sandboxes.
Renata holds a master's degree in mathematics and actuarial sciences from Catholic University in Leuven (Belgium) and is a member of the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium (IA/Be). She is also co-founder and Vice-Chair of Actuaires du Monde, an association of actuaries volunteering in developing and emerging countries. She speaks French, English and Dutch, and has basic notions of German and classical Arabic.
Titus Kabamba Nkwale, Regional Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa
Titus has two decades of insurance and pensions supervisory experience, encompassing junior, middle management and leadership roles. During this period, he had the privilege of contributing to the work and aims of the Southern Africa regional body for non-bank financial supervisory authorities – the Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Bank Financial Authorities (CISNA), serving as Chairperson of Insurance Retirement Funds Medical Aid Funds, and Financial Intermediaries Sub- Committee (IRMIS), from 2017 to 2020. Before joining the pensions and insurance supervisory authority in Zambia, Titus held accounting and auditing roles in an audit firm for 2 years.
Titus has a Master of Science degree in financial management, fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified d Accountants (ACCA) and a bachelor’s degree in accountancy.
Manoj Kumar Pandey
Manoj brings over 15 years of experience working with insurers, directly with consumers, and stakeholders like insurers, banks, regulatory agencies, DFS providers and multilateral agencies.
Manoj has worked with A2ii since 2020. He is currently a Climate Risk Financing Specialist at the V20 Sustainable Insurance Facility. Before, he led the inclusive insurance efforts at MicroSave Consulting (MSC) in the Asian and African markets advising insurers and digital finance services providers on addressing the low and moderate-income clients. He has also worked with the Microinsurance Network, SEWA India and has been a fellow with the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility. Manoj has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
Asis Rodriguez, Digital Learning
Asis is responsible for the implementation of digital learning at the A2ii, ensuring they align with the organisation’s critical success factors. She is driven by a passion for innovative solutions that challenge the status quo, with a focus on addressing the needs of underserved populations.
Prior to joining A2ii, Asis worked on an initiative to expand access to mobile-delivered insurance and health services for underserved, low-income communities in Ghana.
She holds an M.Sc. in Economics and speaks Spanish, English, and German.
Martina Wiedmaier-Pfister
Martina Wiedmaier-Pfister is a specialist in insurance policy and regulation and supports development cooperation projects at global and regional level finally aiming at national solutions in the area of access to finance. For over 30 years, she has provided her expertise to central banks, insurance regulators and development cooperation agencies.
From 2024 she began working again as a technical consultant for A2ii. Previously, she worked for A2ii from 2009-2018 and was involved in the set-up of the organization.
As a strong advocate of sustainable development, she integrates cross-cutting issues such as country diagnostics, proportionate regulation and supervision and enabling policy approaches for inclusive and climate risk insurance. This includes gender mainstreaming and solutions for Micro and Small Enterprise (MSME) in the financial sector. With over 20 years of work in inclusive insurance, she has specialised in advising global platforms and programmes and is the author of numerous studies and tools. As such, she has been instrumental in advancing the frontiers of knowledge in the field of inclusive insurance regulation and policy. Martina graduated from Pforzheim University with a degree in business administration, specializing in marketing and international trade.
