Reducing out-of-pocket expenditure through insurance or other forms of pre-payment offers financial protection and peace of mind to people in case they fall ill. At the same time, predictable income, for example from health insurance, helps healthcare providers to run their business effectively.

With African partners such as governments, mobile network and money operators, insurers and insurance distributors, we design and develop private and public-private health insurance schemes for lower-income groups. By providing risk sharing mechanisms, we reduce financial risks for local partners in order to kick-start sustainable market development and growth. We build on existing institutions and stimulate not only the demand side of the market through insurance, but also the supply side of the market.. Quality improvement of healthcare providers, for example, is a central aspect within all our health insurance schemes.

Our PPP models in Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya are increasingly being recognized and adopted by local go vernments and partners.

We constantly evaluate the results and performance of our health insurance schemes. Operational research on our programs helps us adapt them to increase their impact, so that more people gain access to quality healthcare. Impact evaluations of our health plans show an increase of healthcare utilization, improved health outcomes and better financial protection in target communities.

Our mHealth activities build on existing social solidarity mechanisms to offer new easy to access forms of pre-payment and risk sharing for healthcare. High mobile phone penetration in many African countries opens up possibilities for targeting specific population groups through segmentation based on mobile phone and money usage, location and demographic information. Lower transaction costs, increased transparency and shortened cash cycles in turn make the businesses of healthcare providers more resilient and enable them to improve the quality of care.