NEEF has signed an MoU with Smile Life Insurance in a move intended to provide innovative and affordable insurance products to ordinary and underserved Malawians under the newly launched Insurance Kumudzi FARMSE Project. In his remarks, the NEEF CEO Mr. Humphrey Mdyetseni stated that the signing of the MoU is a huge milestone towards ensuring the provision of a social safety net for ordinary Malawians who access financial services by NEEF. He explained, “NEEF has a duty to assist the government in social-economic development, and part of that is to enable people to have insurance coverage in case of tragedies, of which the current penetration of insurance is around 3% and 97% do not enjoy the insurance”. Furthermore, he added that the partnership will also help NEEF in ensuring that the property provided as collateral is indeed of value so that shareholders’ Funds are safeguarded.
Speaking following the signing ceremony, Smile Life CEO Mr. Stain Singo praised NEEF as a trusted and dependable partner with established structures which can help with the implementation of the Insurance Kumudzi FARMSE Project. He explained, “NEEF is an organization that has a huge presence in rural areas, working with cooperatives, groups and individuals”.
Under this arrangement, NEEF will actively engage communities, conduct awareness campaigns, and provide financial literacy programs while Smile Life Insurance will make sure that NEEF officers are trained to ably implement the project. The insurance offerings will include Hospital Cover, Funeral Cover, Group Credit, and Financial literacy programs. The two-year project is currently in its pilot phase across five districts namely Mzimba, Zomba, Mulanje, Kasungu and Mchinji, with plans to expand to the rest of the country in future.