Turaco and VisionFund International are expanding their partnership to reach more low-income families with affordable insurance, building on a collaboration that has already covered about 250,000 people in Kenya and Uganda. The two organisations have signed a global Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see them work together to expand access to insurance through microfinance institutions and development programmes across Africa.
The partnership will initially build on their presence in Kenya and Uganda, while Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Rwanda are being considered among the first markets for expansion.
Rather than treating insurance as a product families turn to only after suffering a major loss, Turaco and VisionFund say they will also explore solutions that support families before a crisis, particularly through preventative and outpatient healthcare.
Turaco CEO and Co-Founder Ted Pantone said the experience in Kenya and Uganda had demonstrated the potential of linking insurance to financial services already used by low-income families.
“Our work with VisionFund in Kenya and Uganda has shown us what is possible when insurance is built into the financial products families already trust,” Pantone said.
He said the new agreement would allow the partners to take lessons from the two markets and develop a broader approach to insurance across Africa.
“This partnership lets us take that proven model and turn it into a deliberate, shared roadmap across many more markets,” he said.
The organisations are also expected to use experience from VisionFund’s programmes in Latin America and Asia to shape new insurance products and approaches.
Pantone said particular attention would be given to prevention and outpatient care.
“We are especially excited about what we can build together on prevention and outpatient care, meeting families before a crisis rather than only after one,” he said.
VisionFund International CEO Edgar S. Martinez said low-income families remain vulnerable to shocks that can erase years of economic progress.
“Families in the communities we serve face real shocks, illness, death, disability, climate, that can undo years of hard won progress in an instant,” Martinez said.
He said the organisation’s experience with Turaco had shown that insurance could help families protect the gains they had made.
“Our work with Turaco in Kenya and Uganda has shown how effective simple, well designed insurance can be at protecting that progress,” Martinez said.
He added that the expanded partnership would allow VisionFund to extend insurance protection to more families while finding ways to reach them before emergencies occur.
“This global partnership lets us bring that protection to many more of the families VisionFund serves, and to learn together how to reach them even earlier, before a crisis hits,” he said. The partnership forms part of the organisations’ broader effort to use insurance as a financial resilience tool, particularly for families exposed to health, disability, death and climate-related shocks.
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