Enacy Mapakame

Rugare Makuyana, a carpenter in Maronga village in Chipinge District, about 450km south east of the capital Harare was banished from the village by elders in the community.

When he was still in good books with the community, he was known for making basic furniture like ordinary benches for schools and churches.

During times of bereavement, families would also approach Makuyana to remodel doors and wardrobes into coffins to bury their loved ones.

Makuyana found an untapped market in the whole of Maronga Village and surrounding areas. He started making coffins and stocked them at his make shift cabin by the growth point. This was taboo for the village elders and earned him his one-way ticket from the village forever.

According to village elders and traditional leaders, this was a bad omen. This also meant Makuyana wished for frequent deaths in the village to boost his coffin business. Preparing for a good send-off at one’s eventual demise was unheard of. The villagers’ philosophy was that everyone would eventually get buried therefore no need to prepare.

But the perceptions have since changed, thanks to bold moves by different stakeholders to educate the marginalised communities and address the pressing issue of financial exclusion.

Zimbabwe has embarked on a transformative journey, leveraging technological advancements and strategic partnerships to expand access to financial services including insurance for citizens.

This commitment involving Government, financial services providers and mobile operators has served as a game changer, and yielded remarkable results in recent years to include the once marginalised from basic financial services like formal banking and funeral assurance.

The proliferation of mobile money platforms, such as Ecocash, Onemoney, and Telecash, has revolutionised the way individuals access financial services, particularly in rural areas. The government’s implementation of supportive policies, including the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), has further accelerated this progress.

In the case of insurance activity, financial inclusion focuses on allowing lower-income groups of society to gain access to the products that enable them to protect their life, health and assets, through the savings and loss compensation processes which are an inherent part of insurance products.

Today villagers in Maronga now embrace funeral assurance services, making small contributions via mobile phones to cater for basics like coffins and transportation.

“Before baba passed away it, he had joined a plan that covers our family, so the funeral service provided transport from Chipinge Hospital mortuary and a coffin. This made things a bit easier for the family,” said Mrs Rhoda Muchai who lost her husband recently.

Another villager identified as Nkomo said there were significant improvements on perceptions around funeral assurance with villagers beginning to embrace it, albeit at a slow pace.

“I grew up here and paying for funeral service was a preserve of people in the cities, but we are seeing a change. There are companies that visit every quarter and especially during harvesting period encouraging us to take up funeral services and we pay premiums using our mobile wallets,” he said adding this had helped many villagers.

“This is addressing a lot of issues we had here. And it is now up to you to be wise or not, after all no one is forcing anyone,” he said.

However, the challenge of financial exclusion in all its forms still remain prevalent across many marginalised communities not only in Zimbabwe but across the Sub Sahara Africa.

According to a 2020 Finscope survey of the region, less than 10% of the adult population in nine sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have private insurance.

The disparity between the uptake and need for insurance indicates that there is a large risk protection gap in Africa, creating scope for more efforts to boost financial literacy and inclusion.

Responding to Insurance24, the Life Offices Association of Zimbabwe (LOAZ) secretary general Mavukeni Rufai said the LOAZ was working on initiatives dedicated to improving financial inclusion and increasing insurance penetration, particularly in marginalised communities and remote areas.

“Our initiatives prioritise educating Zimbabweans about the vital importance of insurance through engaging social media campaigns,” he said.

These are implemented in collaboration with the regulator, the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) on initiatives such as Global Money Week and the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which aim to raise awareness and provide accessible financial education.

Rufai also emphasized the need for service providers to tailor make products suitable for the environment and leveraging technology to boost accessibility.

“Many of our members now offer life, retirement, savings, and funeral products through simple mobile phones and USSD platforms, reaching previously marginalised populations. These innovative products deviate from traditional offerings by allowing clients to pay as they can, thus reducing the risk of lapses in coverage.

“These innovative products deviate from traditional offerings by allowing clients to pay as they can, thus reducing the risk of lapses in coverage,” he said.

Commenting on financial literacy, inclusion, and insurance penetration at a recent conference, Coronation Financial Holdings CEO Dr Lance Mambondiani emphasised leveraging technology to bridge the existing gaps.

Mambondiani also spoke of promoting mobile insurance to reach the underserved populations.

“By creating a foundation for individuals to access insurance products, financial inclusion contributes to overall financial stability and resilience.

“Expanding digital financial services and promoting mobile insurance can reach underserved populations,” he said.

He also highlighted the need to offer affordable insurance products tailored to low-income segments that can help protect livelihoods and assets.

FSD Africa also notes that the growth of financial inclusion has been a catalyst for insurance growth.

“Financial Sector Deepening Africa’s (FSDA) work with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has shown that insurers across the continent are looking to serve the market on a larger scale and through new channels.

Financial inclusion has come a long way. Not long ago, the widespread definition of what it means to be “included” would only focus on access to a bank account.

“Thankfully, that notion has changed. A broader definition of the term has led to the development of many more services and ways to help lift the poor out of poverty—mobile money being the most prominent example,” FSD Africa said.

It added that in Africa, most of this coverage is represented by life insurance products, the penetration of which however still pales in comparison to most developed markets.

In these markets, it said, insurance products are part of the financial landscape and are more of an expectation rather than the exception.

Should financial inclusion continue to deepen, experts believe insurance penetration will also increase, particularly in marginalised areas.