Publication database

This document is a collection of seven executive summaries from seven case studies from the Business Innovation Facility Portfolio. It provides an introduction to each inclusive business model and highlights the commercial and development results that are emerging. The report assesses the internal and external context of a company’s business model, the ‘nuts and bolts’ of how the model works, actual or likely commercial returns, emerging impacts on bottom of the pyramid beneficiaries, value added from BIF support, key success factors for scale and lessons relevant for other companies.

This document provides the full version of the Business Innovation Facility pilot which provided technical assistance to inclusive businesses in Bangladesh, India, Malawi, Nigeria and Zambia. It discusses business model focus, target audience, progress and common constraints of the 33 inclusive businesses that had received support during the first two years of the pilot.

Based on a review of more than ten case studies, Microinsurance Paper No. 27 identifies barriers to access and provides strategies to overcome them. More specifically, it takes a closer look at three business processes that enable access – enrolment, premium collection and renewal – and some related success factors. The goal is to provide concrete examples of how microinsurance schemes can improve clients’ access to products.

The report describes a series of sixteen case studies implemented by the boP Global Network learning labs (also known as innovation Centers) from around the world. The case studies have been organized around five specific areas of focus and action: I - Enhancing Product Design II - Value Chain Business Models III - Employment Generation IV - Improving Distribution Channels for the BoP V - Generating Access to Basic Needs (Energy, Health, Housing, Insurance).
 

This case study reviews the salaUno’s model, a Mexico City-based eye care centre whose vision is to create a for-profit eye care system that provides affordable and accessible care to all segments of the population. It provides information on the sector, and the business models success factors, pillars, challenges, and competitors.

Insurers are using mobile phones to address two main challenges facing the microinsurance sector: increasing efficiency and reaching scale. Microinsurance Paper #26 is based on a review of literature and 13 insurance schemes that are using mobile phones in some capacity. The review reveals good practices and lessons for insurers to consider when implementing mobile-based microinsurance.

After two decades of experience, VimoSEWA had serious concerns about rising costs and slow growth in its voluntary microinsurance scheme. So it began an ambitious programme of changes to its structure, culture, products, operations, and monitoring and evaluation. Microinsurance paper #25 reflects the tensions faced by an organization trying to be socially focused and financially viable, and demonstrates how a resilient attitude can spur resurgence.

This report discusses how agricultural microinsurance can be used to support smallholder farmers in developing countries helping them to cope with the effects of climate change, such as droughts, floods, or increased frequency and severity of infestations. It identifies direct mechanisms to induce disaster risk reduction 'DRR' via micro-insurance, and it analyses the existing agricultural microinsurance products where these mechanisms have been employed.

Research paper #35 provides a selective overview of the current state of research on the impact of microinsurance. Its key purpose is to explore the role played by insurance in developing countries. In reviewing the most recent literature about the impact of microinsurance in developing countries, special attention is given to the issue of statistical identification of the impact, and to the need of highlighting the channels through which microinsurance affects the outcomes. Although the effects of microinsurance are heterogeneous across the studies reviewed, this review shows that micro-insurance seems to achieve markedly positive results under specific provisions.

Microcare originated out of a desire to find more effective ways to provide low-income communities with access to better quality healthcare. Pre-paid healthcare offered an opportunity to accumulate and channel resources so that poor people would get cashless access to healthcare services and service providers would benefit from better cash flows. Microinsurance Paper #24 examines the factors that contributed to the rise and fall of Microcare as a provider of low-cost health insurance. It seeks to draw lessons from Microcare’s experience that will further the development of a more successful business model for health microinsurance.