Insurance penetration in Zambia, like the rest of the African continent, remains below the global average due to several factors, chief among them being a lack of awareness and trust by consumers in traditional insurance companies.

aYo is, however, not your traditional insurer. It is a modern insurance company that leverages technology, analytics, and mobile and digital channels to make life and hospital insurance accessible to millions across the African continent. 

It helps that it has the backing of Africa’s telecommunications giant MTN, which has an estimated 280 million subscribers across the continent. In a market like Zambia, where the Insurance market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 17% during the period 2020 and 2025, aYo was certainly going to be successful given the relevance of its products to average Zambian consumers. “We offer primarily life and hospital cash insurance, and by life, we mean a small ticket insurance that is affordable and linked to an individual’s general usage of their mobile phone subscription in terms of either airtime or mobile money services if you like,” Andrew Nkolola, CEO aYo Zambia tells CEO Business Africa. 

Today, aYo enjoys a subscriber base of over 3 million customers. That is a remarkable feat for a company that is barely two years old. The company’s success can be linked to the affordability of its products. “What we have tried to do is to link a level of affordability and accessibility and simplicity to our offering. That, by and large, gives benefits relating to the unfortunate death of a policyholder and or hospitalization over a specified period,” Andrew elaborates. “So, we believe our offering is quite valuable and fills the need and void, especially for people with irregular income and exposed to quite a few risks around that daily living.” 

A relatively easy way of onboarding into the insurance program has also attracted millions of customers. With aYo, customers only need to be active subscribers of MTN, from where they can register for the insurance through a short USSD code. By enabling payment through MTN Mobile Money or recharge cards, aYo has also made it easier for customers to manage their insurance premiums, further encouraging uptake among many Zambians. 

Andrew, a Zambian-born and bred insurance professional knows firsthand the need to make insurance simple to onboard and affordable to maintain. “At a personal level, I have had relations, friends, and relatives who, at one point or another, may have been economically disadvantaged and could not have accessed what they needed to help them in calamitous situations. And I think I took it upon myself to make this my crusade,” Andrew reveals.  

Andrew says they are in a market where people have generally not had direct interaction or exposure to formal insurance. He further notes that even those who have, unfortunately, the experience may not have been very pleasant, particularly when it comes to claims settlement. Having been in the Zambian insurance scene for about 12 years, Andrew wants aYo to stand out from its peers. “We tried to tailor our products around the actual needs and expectations of our customers,” he says. 

“One of the reasons why we also looked at life and hospital cash is basically from that feedback and interaction with our customers. We said we are not going to come with a product off the shelf but rather meet the real risks that are experienced daily by our customers.” 

A lot about providing customer-tailored products also has to do with consumer education. In many African communities, discussing with someone on anything about their death is unheard of. Even though this is ridiculous, many of us genuinely think we may even be “tempting fate” if we decide to take life insurance. Andrew believes this cultural belief is among the most significant barriers to insurance penetration. A low level of knowledge and understanding regarding insurance further compounds the problem. aYo works to demystify such beliefs through an extensive customer education program. “We don’t just sell policies or benefits to our customers. We try as much as possible to educate them through the journey as to what they’re buying into, how to claim and when to claim, and what to expect when they make their claim,” says Andrew. 

Andrew believes the actual services they offer from insurance, both life and where hospitalization is concerned, contribute to filling that gap and void where people face calamities because of some of the environmental changes we’re experiencing globally and more so in Africa. “There are droughts, floods, and other climate issues that impact individuals at a go, and as a result, they need some support or safety net. So, our contribution from an offering perspective speaks to that,” he says. 

With climate change fast catching up with us, Andrew confides in us that the company is also exploring sustainability-related product offerings that speak directly to customers. That product could be agriculture insurance or index insurance to protect farmers when they lose their crops due to drought or climate change. Like aYo’s existing products, these will be rolled out in the space of innovation and technology to make it easier for the customer to access them at an affordable price. According to Andrew, the focus will be on ensuring the products impart real value to customers whenever they experience any climate-linked calamity. 

What has helped aYo achieve unprecedented success is the fact that it is a major digital service company. Leveraging already existing technology, the company has been able to roll out its products with a relatively higher success rate in Zambia. High mobile penetration rates in the country have ensured aYo has an expanded customer reach, and with much of the digital population still untapped, opportunities for further growth still exist. “With a mobile phone penetration rate of above 80% in the country, we believe this offers Zambians from all walks of life the ability to access affordable, easy-to-use insurance relevant to their needs that they have control over,” Andrew says. 

Robust investments from the company’s primary shareholder, MTN Group, have been key in its growth journey in Zambia and the rest of the continent, where it already has a footprint. The company is confident that it can easily tap into the venture funding market should it need external funding sources. “Though we may not be involved in that space currently, depending on the situation and the time and the market itself, even those options, I believe, are viable because we always look at the new markets that we enter and the business starting this new market as a start-up in itself.” 

The CEO is, however, satisfied that the resources it currently has are enough to help it achieve its goals. “For the foreseeable future, we will continue to leverage the good support we are getting from MTN as a group and any other partners that will collaborate with them at that level and share the same vision we are trying to bring to fruition.” 

For Ayo and other microinsurers, the pandemic meant more business. Andrew says that his company greatly benefitted from the high appreciation for insurance services that arose during the pandemic. “From a knowledge, ability perspective, I think COVID also brought to the fore a closer consciousness around what risks are apparent to people and how best they can take care of them when these issues arise,” Andrew points out. After the pandemic, Andrew says that the company is now considering expanding its product offering to cater to broader healthcare risks that people are experiencing. 

Continentally, aYo has very robust expansion plans leveraging MTN’s pan-African presence. According to Andrew, the strategy is to have a presence “wherever we have the telco capability as well as other digital facilities.” The insurtech, which began in Uganda and is currently in three other African countries, including Zambia, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire, has plans to launch in several more shortly. Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin are some of the already confirmed markets that aYo is serious about venturing into. A soon-to-be-announced East African country is also in the mix. “We are hopeful that we will be able to provide or will be able to have aYo as a partner providing insurance in those countries.”

This feature appeared in the December 2022 edition of CEO Business Africa magazine. You can access the full digital magazine HERE.