Vanguard Assurance Company Limited, as part of its expansion strategy, has completed a deal through BlueOrchard, a leading impact investment fund manager which has resulted in InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), acquiring 40% shares in the company. IIF was set up on behalf of the German government by Kfw.

Vanguard was founded in 1974 as the first private indigenous insurance company in Ghana as part of a composite insurance group. The business has since spun out as a specialised General Insurer, licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NIC) of Ghana and offers a full range of General Insurance products including Motor, Property, Engineering, Personal Accident, and Micro-insurance.

Vanguard has a strong presence in the commercial, SME and retail sectors and its branch network extends across the country. The company has digital distribution capabilities allowing it to reach low-income and rural customers beyond its branch network, with the potential to reach more than 500,000 individual policyholders by 2026.

Daniel Awuah-Darko, Chairman of Vanguard Group, expressing his delight about the partnership said – “We are excited to partner with BlueOrchard to deliver on our mission of developing innovative insurance offerings for multiple segments of the market and are confident that BlueOrchard’s experience and knowledge of the financial services sector, globally, will further strengthen our business and drive significant growth”. (www.vanguardassurance.com)

The investment in Vanguard aligns with the vision and principles of IIF and the InsuResilience Global Partnership (“the Partnership”), which was launched at the 2017 UN Climate Conference COP23 by Germany. The vision of the Partnership is to strengthen the resilience of developing countries to the effects of climate change and to protect the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people against extreme weather events and natural disasters. The Partnership’s objective is to enable more timely and reliable post-disaster response and offer insurance solutions to reduce impacts and help poor and vulnerable people recover quickly.

IIF will appoint directors to the Vanguard Board to assist the company in driving its market expansion, rolling out its micro-insurance distribution capabilities, and further enhancing governance. Through the IIF Technical Assistance Facility, it will support Vanguard in developing new products and raising market awareness for climate risk mitigation.  

Richard Hardy, Investment Director for Africa at BlueOrchard said – “We are deeply aligned with Vanguard’s customer centric values and have been impressed with the team’s commitment to innovation. Digitalisation represents a significant opportunity for the industry and we are excited to be partnering with Vanguard as they continue to develop pioneering products and services for the Ghanaian market,”.

About InsuResilience Investment Fund

Luxembourg based InsuResilience Investment Fund has been set up by KfW, the German Development Bank, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The overall objective of the InsuResilience Investment Fund is to contribute to the adaptation to climate change by improving access to and the use of insurance in developing countries. The specific objective of the fund is to reduce the vulnerability of low-income households and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) to extreme weather events. The InsuResilience Investment Fund has been set up as a public-private-partnership and combines private debt and equity investments in two separately investible sub-funds as well as technical assistance and premium support. The fund aims at both financial return and social impact.  For further information, please visit: www.insuresilienceinvestment.fund

About BlueOrchard Finance Ltd

BlueOrchard 

is a leading global impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group. As a pioneering impact investor, the firm is dedicated to generating lasting positive impact for communities and the environment, while aiming at providing attractive returns to investors. BlueOrchard was founded in 2001, by initiative of the UN, as the first commercial manager of microfinance debt investments worldwide. Today, the firm offers impact investment solutions across asset classes, connecting millions of entrepreneurs in emerging and frontier markets with investors with the aim to make impact investment solutions accessible to all and to advance the conscious use of capital. Being a professional investment manager and expert in innovative blended finance mandates, BlueOrchard has a sophisticated international investor base and is a trusted partner of leading global development finance institutions. To date, BlueOrchard has invested over USD 9bn across more than 90 countries. Around 230 million poor and vulnerable people in emerging and frontier markets received access to financial and related services with the support of BlueOrchard as of December 2021. For additional information, please visit: www.blueorchard.com