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Kenyan insurance comparison platform MyInsure wants to address the challenges hindering the local and pan-African insurance markets by taking the industry online.

With insurance products currently achieving only limited traction in most African markets, Kennedy Kioko, chief executive officer (CEO) of MyInsure says there are a myriad of obstacles imposed by both consumers and providers holding back the insurance industry on the continent.

Ranging from under-education of consumers on the role of insurance and the variety of products available; fraudulent claims; to bad practices on the side of providers – such as premium undercutting, and non-compliance with regulatory requirements – Kioko says the African insurance industry is tarred by a lack of transparency and mismanagement.

“MyInsure represents a transparent new way to compare, buy, service, monitor and underwrite insurance and its utility. We want to give access and control to the buyer of the policy, and an easier way of management to the insurance providers and intermediaries,” Kioko says.

There are competitors already dominating the market, Kioko concedes, such as other insurance aggregators and comparison sites, systems developed in-house by insurers, and traditional insurance intermediaries.  But MyInsure differentiates by providing an unaffiliated, web platform and mobile app geared towards allowing consumers to self-manage their insurance choices, and monitor policy providers.

“They may have [already dominated the market]. We offer much more than they do. We look at insurance holistically – the buying is not the end goal. Retention and referral is. If we improve customer service and experience by understanding, not just how people buy, but also how they interact with their insurance during the policy period until renewal, then we give more value addition than aggregators that end their interaction after the sale.”

Since soft-launching to market in June 2017, MyInsure has attracted 180 users to the platform; with total revenues topping US$10,000 to date from B2B partnerships with insurance companies, and on a commission basis.

While the startup was launched and has operated so far on the back of US$100,000 equity seed funding raised from family and friends, Kioko is now looking for funding to take MyInsure pan-African.

“We plan on going into the East African market within the next few years.  Overall, we want to improve insurance penetration and insurance uptake in Africa.”

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