PAKISTAN’S FIRST MICRO-INSURANCE AGENCY DEBUTS IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan has seen the launch of its first dedicated micro-insurance venture. The descriptively named First Micro-insurance Agency (FMiA) is working alongside Pakistan-based insurer New Jubilee Life which will act as the principal insurer, and a subsidiary of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM), which has committed 30 million rupees of start-up capital to the venture. AKAM has previously been involved in Pakistan’s First Microfinance Bank Limited but FMiA is its first venture into micro-insurance. “The provision of low cost insurance to millions of Pakistan’s poor families constitutes a vast market potential,” said Kaleem Abbas, the new chief executive of FMiA. “Microcredit is a rapidly expanding business in Pakistan and by offering insurance we are expanding the range of financial services available to families which previously had been excluded.”