Digital Life Insurance Launch, Promising Expansion and 13,000 Jobs


Digital Life Insurance Launch, Promising Expansion and 13,000 Jobs

Ethio-Life & General Insurance and Lumia Technologies have launched Lumina, Ethiopia's first fully digital life insurance platform. Leveraging the Fayda national ID for hassle-free mobile registration, Lumina offers coverage up to 750,000 Birr, with premiums starting at 415 Birr. It features rapid claims processing, flexible beneficiary options, and supports multiple local languages, including Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Somali, and Tigrigna. Shimelis Gedlegiorgis, CEO of Ethio-Life and General Insurance, stated, "Lumina marks the first instance in Ethiopian insurance history where individuals can purchase life insurance solely using their mobile phone." Currently, fewer than 400,000 Ethiopians hold life insurance policies, and the insurance sector contributes less than 1pc to the country's GDP. Lumina is expected to bridge this gap by providing coverage to 3.2 million people over the next five years and generating over 13,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities. Out of the 18 insurance companies, only 13 offer life insurance services. A 2020 study by the NBE, revealed that 55 pC of Ethiopian insurance companies maintain their branches in Addis Abeba.

[ssba-buttons]

Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...