As part of its commitment to inclusive insurance, the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) spoke with Evelyne FASSINOU, Member of the Executive Committee of FANAF, about the recently launched joint FANAF–IFC study. We sincerely thank her for collaborating with GIIF and sharing the valuable insights that made this piece possible.

1. Evelyne, congratulations on the recent launch of the joint FANAF–IFC study. To start, could you tell us what inspired this collaboration?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
When Rosalie Logon and I were elected to the Executive Committee of FANAF in February 2020, we quickly felt the need to take stock of the professional situation of women in the insurance sector within the FANAF region. Why? Because our respective career paths had already shown us that as one rises through the ranks in insurance companies and sector organizations, the presence of women drastically decreases. We often found ourselves as the only women in certain professional settings.

We wanted our mandate at FANAF to contribute concretely to improving this situation. To act effectively, we needed solid data from a rigorous study conducted by experts.

That’s how the collaboration with IFC was born. From our very first meeting with the gender team, they showed a strong interest in the topic. IFC not only funded the study—entrusted to a well-known international consulting firm—but also provided close support throughout the project up to its completion.

I take this opportunity to sincerely thank the IFC team and the consulting firm for their full commitment and professionalism.

2. Why is this the right time to place women at the center of the sustainable growth of the insurance sector?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
I would say it's time—and it’s urgent!
Insurance penetration rates in the FANAF zone are among the lowest in the world. For years, the African insurance sector has sought to stimulate growth, yet there are still large under-exploited client segments.

Women represent a strong growth lever. They make up over 50% of the population and nearly half of the workforce. However, their specific needs are rarely considered in commercial strategies.
Targeting the female market opens new avenues for development.

Moreover, the insurance sector in Africa faces many challenges: new customer expectations and increasingly complex risk management. To meet these, companies must rely on diverse leadership teams capable of offering complementary and innovative perspectives.
Ignoring the potential of women means missing out on half the market and half the available talent.

3. The study presents a strong case for women as a strategic growth driver in the FANAF region. What surprised you most in the findings or insights from the research?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
What struck me the most was the uniformity of the situation for women across the countries studied—no single country stood out as a clear leader.

On a more positive note, we were pleasantly surprised to see that some pan-African insurance groups have much higher female representation in decision-making bodies than the regional average. This proves that when there’s strong will at the top, real progress is possible.

Another encouraging point: the focus groups held with women professionals in the insurance sector across six countries in West and Central Africa were incredibly inspiring. These women were clear-eyed about the challenges but far from resigned. They are determined and already agents of change.

4. One of the study’s key findings is the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles. In your view, what are the main barriers to their advancement, and what three priority actions should regulators and insurers take to begin addressing them?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
The barriers are several:

• Cultural: In many FANAF countries, society still mainly values women in their roles as wives and mothers, often at the expense of their professional and economic contributions.
• Regulatory: In many countries, there is either no sectoral regulation promoting gender equality, or when it exists, it is not enforced.
• Structural: Women are underrepresented in technical and high-responsibility roles that often serve as pipelines to leadership.
• Historical: The insurance sector has traditionally been male-dominated, making it hard to break into.

Three priority actions are essential:

1. Establish gender-sensitive HR policies with measurable parity goals.
2. Launch talent development programs specifically for women.
3. Put in place clear mechanisms to combat gender-based discrimination.

5. Considering GIIF’s central role in inclusive agricultural and climate insurance, how do you see the application of the study’s findings in these areas, especially given the role of women as farmers, entrepreneurs, and household decision-makers?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
Around 62% of working women in Africa are in agriculture. Yet, they are rarely considered specifically by insurers. Most current insurance products—whether for business or personal risks—are not designed with rural women’s needs, constraints, and realities in mind.

GIIF has a critical role to play in reversing this trend. As a catalyst for inclusive agricultural insurance, it can support partner insurers in adopting approaches that include women in agricultural and climate risk insurance—such as co-developing products with women farmers and leveraging women’s networks for distribution.

I commend the World Bank projects that support some insurers in marketing strategies targeting women. However, these efforts remain too isolated, too localized, and lack a comprehensive rollout strategy across the FANAF region.

6. Microinsurance and digital innovations are opening up access to insurance, especially for women in underserved rural areas. What opportunities do you see for insurtech and product innovation to become more gender-responsive in the FANAF region?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
Microinsurance and digital innovation have the potential to accelerate women’s insurance inclusion in rural areas. Insurtechs bring a breath of fresh air to the insurance landscape in the FANAF zone. However, in a highly regulated sector like ours, close collaboration with licensed insurers is essential.

Two major opportunities emerge:

• Co-creating products tailored to women’s specific needs, combining insurtech agility (data, mobile money, digital access) with insurers' technical know-how and local market knowledge.
• Developing distribution models where insurtechs provide innovative, accessible channels and insurers ensure reliability and compliance.

7. The study highlights both regulatory gaps and the need for internal reforms within companies. What concrete measures would you recommend to national regulators and insurers to bridge these gender gaps?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
Closing gender gaps requires coordinated action from states, regulators, and companies within the insurance ecosystem.

For governments:

• Establish a clear legal framework on gender equality in all FANAF countries and ensure it is enforced.

For insurance regulators:

• Enforce gender parity in the governing bodies of insurance and reinsurance companies.
• Monitor company gender policies, including mandatory sex-disaggregated reporting on employment, salaries, and access to governance roles.
• Promote fast-tracking for gender-responsive insurance products to link market development with inclusion.

For companies, three levers are key:

1. Formalize gender-sensitive HR policies with measurable objectives.
2. Implement programs to develop female leadership.
3. Adopt strong anti-discrimination measures.

8. How does FANAF plan to engage regional actors, development partners, and the private sector in implementing the study’s findings? Are there promising initiatives already underway, or areas where more effort is needed to boost female leadership in the sector?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
The study is a starting point for action.
As a leading regional organization, FANAF has a central role to play in turning the study’s conclusions into concrete actions. The goal is to rally all stakeholders in the insurance ecosystem to make women a driving force for transforming Africa’s insurance sector.

Four major pillars have been identified:

1. Develop a collective, structured, and visible strategy across the FANAF zone.
2. Establish a regional steering framework through a FANAF Women’s Observatory to track implementation.
3. Involve insurance companies by highlighting good practices and supporting internal transformation plans.
4. Formalize long-term partnerships with actors like IFC, GIIF, the World Bank, and other institutions working on these issues—to benefit from technical support, targeted funding, and global best practices.

9. Finally, what are the next steps? How does FANAF plan to incorporate the study’s insights into its future strategies, and what role do you see for continued collaboration with partners like IFC?

Evelyne FASSINOU:
Next steps include:

• Broad dissemination of the study to all FANAF members.
• Organizing workshops with CEOs and HR Directors in the third quarter of 2025.
• Developing a strategy with urgent actions to implement in the second half of 2025 and others planned for 2026.
• Establishing the FANAF Women’s Observatory by the next FANAF General Assembly, scheduled for February 2026.

The FANAF–IFC joint study on women in the insurance sector across the FANAF region marks the beginning of our continued collaboration. It allows us to capitalize on the institution’s technical and financial support, as well as its global expertise—to advance not only the gender agenda, but also our sustainable development goals for Africa’s insurance sector.

Note: The French version of this blog is available [here]