Microfinance Focus April 13, 2011: PlaNet Guarantee, a member of the PlaNet Finance Group, and GIIF today launched the first regional management platform for index insurance in West Africa. The project aims at contributing access to finance for farmers and improving food security for the population of West Africa.

The project hopes to develop parametric agricultural insurance systems in four West African Economic and Monetary Union WAEMU countries, including Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso. The facility will cover at least 60, 000 people by the end of 2015 and raise awareness to more than 1, 65, 000 farmers on agricultural insurance.

It is supported by the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), a program of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). GIIF is funded by the European Commission, the ACP Secretariat, and the Japan Ministry of Finance.

Other project supporters include Microinsurance Innovation Facility of the International Labour Organization, AGRA (Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa) and AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund). PlaNet Guarantee and Allianz Africa are also working in partnership to design and implement index insurance solutions in Burkina Faso and Mali, especially on maize and cotton. The project will also involve partnerships with insurance companies and local and international reinsurers.

PlaNet Guarantee, a company of PlaNet Finance Group provides microinsurance solutions to people excluded from traditional financial systems. PlaNet Guarantee is registered as a broker in insurance and reinsurance in France and soon in Senegal.