Ethiopia’s Biggest Private Insurer Integrates MPESA

Awash Insurance has entered a strategic partnership with Safaricom that enables the integration of its services on the MPESA payment platform. Customers will now be able to make premium payments, and other insurance-related transactions directly via M-PESA.

The latest partnership is a significant milestone for the payment operator’s services in Ethiopia which entered into a similar agreement with Nyala Insurance a few weeks back. While the M-PESA service is integrated into several Ethiopian banks, it recently began to establish partnership with insurers.

“We are confident this partnership will enable Awash Insurance to offer its customers a seamless experience for making insurance payments and streamline its operations by leveraging M-PESA’s mobile payment solutions,” said Elsa Muzollini, CEO of Safaricom M-PESA.

Awash recently celebrated three decades of operations in Ethiopia’s insurance industry as it capped off a year marked by nearly 902-million-birr profits. The insurer has also managed to raise its paid-up capital to 2.5 billion birr which rivals some of the country’s smaller banks.

Ethiopia has one of the smallest insurance penetration rates in the world, with less than 1% of the over 120 million citizens being insured. While 18 insurance companies operate in the country with assets close to 40 billion birr last year, over half of the coverage is either for motor or maritime insurance.

“By integrating M-PESA's trusted mobile payment platform, we are making insurance services more accessible, efficient, and convenient for everyone, as the digital era demands tailored services without complications,”said Jibat A. Faji, CEO of Awash Insurance.

He heralded the partnership as strategically aligned to Awash’s transformation plan, emphasizing the need for our products and services to be accessible, efficient, and real-time.

Since its launch in August 2023, M-Pesa has experienced significant growth in Ethiopia. The number of registered M-Pesa customers surged from 1.2 million in September 2023 to [8.3 million by October 2024, a six-fold increase]. This growth resulted in 6.4 billion birr in transactions processed through the M-Pesa platform.