Allianz Partners with Microinsurance Startup OKO

Allianz has entered a cooperation partnership with  OKO . The two will design index-insurance products that automatically compensate farmers in Africa when they are facing adverse weather. In this partnership OKO will bring its data-science expertise and its mobile distribution technology, while Allianz will assist in underwriting and re-insuring the crop insurance products.

This is a second step in a collaboration that started with a pilot program in Mali where OKO demonstrated its ability to bring insurance to un-banked populations using mobile phones. Regardless of their device, Malian farmers have been able to access insurance, pay using Mobile Money and receive claim payment on their phone, all thanks to OKO.

“Allianz is constantly looking for propositions specially designed to improve the lives of people in our emerging consumers segment.  We believe that OKO has the potential to increase insurance penetration in rural areas, which are traditionally under-served and thereby unlock an enormous market.” – Neeraj Maheshwari, Head of Micro-insurance at Allianz Africa.

“For OKO it is a massive step forward to partner with such a large and innovative company. We will now be able to enter new markets and work towards our goal of making African farmers more resilient to climate risks.” – OKO CEO Simon Schwall.