Financials

<h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, focusing on your expertise in the sector?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">I am a member of the Association for the Promotion of Actuarial Sciences (APSA) and have more than 10 years of experience in actuarial science and insurance. I have a master's degree in Actuarial Science &amp; Mathematics of Finance and then a Master's degree in Physics; currently, I am the Managing Director at Soft Consulting, a consulting and financial engineering firm with technical expertise in actuarial science, finance, and IT operating in the fields of Insurance, Banking, Stock Exchanges and Pension Funds through the offers it provides in terms of Consulting, Study, Services and Training in partnership with consultants with solid experience in the national and international market.&nbsp;I remain committed to innovation.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am a recipient of the 6AAC Prize for Young African Researchers in Applied Actuarial Research&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Promoter of the African Insurer Gala</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Since 2022, I have been a certified expert consultant with the Association of Insurance Companies of Benin (ASA Benin) and also work with the Insurance Directorate of Benin.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am a consultant at Fiduciaire d'Afrique, working on the thorny issues related to validating the adequacy of mathematical and technical provisions set aside by life and non-life insurance companies during statutory audits.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am also the Project Manager for the implementation of Inclusive Insurance Solutions, in partnership with Dayo Participations Holding SAS&mdash;Jonshon Insurance, GTA Assurances Vie Togo, Sanlam Assurances B&eacute;nin Vie B&eacute;nin &mdash;Sunu Assurances B&eacute;nin Vie B&eacute;nin, L'Africaine Vie B&eacute;nin, and other partners.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I am also a Knowledge Ridge Pvt Ltd consultant based in India on actuarial and insurance issues in the CIMA zone.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q2. Who are the current insurtech market leaders in West Africa and what unique offerings do they offer?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Insurtech refers to companies offering technology-based insurance services, IT infrastructure, and software solutions to deliver and manage insurance services. This digitalization encompasses various technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital platforms.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Over the past 10 years, an average of four new insurtech companies have been launched in West Africa each year. More than fifty insurtech startups stand out, including the following:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>RelianceHMO</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Cloud-based health insurance platform for individuals and businesses. It offers solutions for telemedicine, medical consultation, health coverage, pregnancy protection, and more. It uses artificial intelligence and data science for personalized healthcare (Nigeria).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Curacel</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">API-based Insurance-as-a-Service platform. It provides physicians with patient information, enabling them to diagnose their patients and reduce medical errors. It also gives them access to a financial dashboard that allows for digital payment collection, cash flow reporting, and transparency on the status of all billings (Nigeria).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>ETAP</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Personal car insurance platform, accessible via an app in Nigeria. It allows users to get instant coverage, instant claims payouts, accident notifications, compensation, and rewards for safe driving. The app is available on iOS and Android. In partnership with Hollard Insurance Ghana, ETAP operates in Ghana as ETAP-Hollard, combining advanced telematics and machine learning to gamify safe driving and reward drivers with points redeemable for vouchers, fuel, and event tickets (Nigeria &amp; Ghana).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Digitech</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">A platform that offers insurance and reinsurance companies a set of fully integrated, cloud-based web and mobile solutions that improve their productivity and competitiveness (Ivory Coast).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>ClaimSync</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">ClaimSync is a comprehensive claims processing platform that allows hospitals and other healthcare providers to easily prepare and submit claims electronically to health insurance companies. This application reduces the paperwork, processing times, reimbursement delays, data entry errors, and labor costs currently associated with paper claims. Once a patient's file is entered into the system, their biographical data is automatically entered into the electronic claim form. Staff can then select diagnostic classifications from ICD-10 and integrate common tests and treatments to finalize the claim. The application is accessible offline to healthcare providers, who simply need to connect to the internet to submit their claims.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All completed claims are sent to the various insurance companies with a single click. Insurers receive reimbursement claims on their online dashboard; they can verify submitted claims and send notes on claims or rejected items to providers. In addition, the solution allows service providers to verify that a patient with private health insurance is an active member and receives the necessary benefits for the care provided before signing it (Ghana).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Parapluie</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Car insurance quote comparison platform. It offers pay-as-you-go options, allowing customers to pay in installments (Ghana).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>PULA</strong></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Swiss InsurTech specializing in agricultural insurance</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q3. What new financial products have been developed in response to recent regulatory changes, and what are their growth prospects?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Index-based and/or yield-based agricultural insurance is being tested in several West African countries in response to climate change, with very positive growth prospects given its significant economic and social impacts.<br>Drought and flooding represent constant threats to smallholder farmers in the informal and agricultural sectors in several countries. A few innovations are emerging in West Africa.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Togo, Lorica Assurances, a key player in inclusive insurance, has developed Farmcover, an innovative agricultural insurance solution specifically designed to protect Togolese farmers against climate risks and improve their resilience to natural disasters. This product secures farmers' incomes while facilitating their access to agricultural credit, thus contributing to the stability of the rural economy. This coverage allows farmers to offset losses due to adverse weather conditions and ensures the resumption of their agricultural activities, thus compensating farmers in drought or excessive rainfall, depending on local weather parameters.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Benin, the government is providing an umbrella to 100,000 small farms through yield index agricultural insurance. This project is a direct response to the growing climate risks threatening Benin's agricultural sector and affecting crop yields. This is made possible with the support of private insurance companies and PULA (a Swiss insurtech specializing in agricultural insurance). These companies will play a key role in managing insurance contracts, analyzing climate data, and deploying compensation in the event of agricultural losses.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This represents a major step forward for Benin's agricultural sector, which accounts for nearly 30% of the national GDP and employs over 70% of the workforce. By providing financial protection against production losses, this initiative aims to encourage investment in agriculture, secure farmers' incomes, and strengthen the country's food security.</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</h2><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q4. What are the main purchasing criteria for consumers when choosing a microinsurance product?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Microinsurance, a subset of inclusive insurance, targets low-income populations and nano, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Consumers' primary criterion for any microinsurance product is the practical solution to an everyday problem. However, consumers also remain very attached to price and product accessibility, which is why considering Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) alongside ease of subscription are determining factors in the proposal of microinsurance products.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q5. How are insurers integrating advanced technologies like AI and Big Data to develop and refine these products?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">In West Africa, insurers still need to make significant efforts to integrate advanced technologies such as AI and Big Data to develop and refine these products. By leveraging advanced techniques such as machine learning and predictive analytics, these algorithms enable insurers to process vast amounts of data with unparalleled accuracy quickly.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, thanks to these new technologies, insurers will be able to easily:</p><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Carry out portfolio segmentation</li><li>Analyze customer behavior to offer products more suited to their needs</li><li>Participate in the fight against insurance fraud by developing machine learning algorithms tailored to the portfolio</li><li>Facilitate access to customer service by developing chatbots</li><li>Optimize business processes, such as claims management and insurance policy underwriting</li></ul><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q6. What strategic partnerships have recently been formed in the fintech sector, and what objectives do these collaborations aim to achieve?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Visa, the global payments giant, and EFT Corporation (EFTCorp) have entered into a five-year partnership to boost the growth of fintechs in Africa and strengthen financial inclusion on the continent. Through this collaboration, the two companies will offer cutting-edge payment solutions and technological infrastructure tailored to the needs of the African market, which is experiencing rapid growth in the digital financial services sector. (source AITN, November 11, 2024)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Africa launches a $60 billion fund to become a global leader in AI. At the Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence in Africa, held in Kigali in April 2025, African leaders announced the creation of this fund, which aims to stimulate the development of an inclusive, ethical, and sovereign digital economy on the continent. 54 African countries signed a historic declaration on AI in Africa.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Q7. If you were an investor studying companies in the sector, what crucial question would you ask their management?</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">To better understand the major issues and challenges ahead, one of the main questions I will ask as an investor studying companies in the sector will be about the level of digitalization of the services offered and the related security standards.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Expert Summary</span></h2><p style="text-align: justify;">Wilfrid Kouton is an accomplished actuary with expertise in actuarial modelling, risk management, pricing, and the design of financial and insurance products. He has led actuarial audits and provision validations and has provided technical and commercial training. Currently an Actuarial Consultant at Exco Africa, he previously served as Head of the Technical Department at AFG Assurances Benin Vie (2019&ndash;2022), where he oversaw portfolio management and provision calculations.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p><p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>