Delivering financial inclusion is a core principle of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) given its role in eradicating poverty. Africa is particularly impacted, given that half of the population is without access to formal financial services. Access to bank accounts hovers at 40%, while insurance accounts for just 3% of GDP, against a global average of 7%. However, recent technological developments have led to the financial system becoming more accessible, to low-income populations than ever before. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the growth of mobile penetration rates has risen to over 43%, providing a crucial platform for the digital expansion of financial services.

Around the world, countries are transitioning their insurance markets to more risk-based capital (RBC) regimes to ensure that insurers have sound financial positions and hold adequate levels of capital. This, in turn, enables the insurance sector to withstand shocks, continue to operate and pay policyholders’ claims. The Global Financial Crisis taught us this lesson; the Covid-19 pandemic is a harsh reminder.

In September 2020 the A2ii publishes Evolving insurance supervisory mandates in Sub Saharan Africa - implications for data practices. This paper is the first part of a project by the Access to

To overcome the social distance in online workshops is hard, even with the right preconditions, such as engaging content and participants who are mostly well-adjusted to using digital tools. As Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill, we chose to reformat our Inclusive Insurance Innovation Lab (iii-lab) - initially envisaged as an 18-months programme of six in-person workshops – into a fully virtual programme and to make it work.

This is a reflective time for the A2ii team. Around this time of the year, we gather to look ahead to our next year’s work plan. We discuss supervisory needs, policy developments and innovations around the world. This year, however, discussions have been anything but ordinary. We have been confronted with the challenge of framing the planning for 2021 in light of the global pandemic and considering different playout scenarios.