<div> Beyond Premiums:&nbsp; </div> <div> Rethinking Insurance Adoption in Africa through the Savings-linked Insurance Model (SLIM) </div>
Domaine:
socioeconomicType de record:
Despite sustained efforts to improve insurance uptake across Africa, adoption remains persistently low. Existing literature primarily attributes this challenge to affordability, trust, access, and financial literacy. While these factors are well established, this discussion paper argues that they may not fully explain the behavioural barriers influencing insurance decisions.
Drawing on insights from behavioural economics and consumer psychology, the paper proposes the Savings-Linked Insurance Model (SLIM) as a conceptual framework for rethinking how insurance is presented to low-income households. Rather than viewing low adoption solely as a problem of access or awareness, SLIM advances the hypothesis that individuals may psychologically experience insurance premiums as a perceived loss when no claim is made. By repositioning savings as the primary value proposition and embedding insurance protection within a savings-oriented structure, the model seeks to reduce this perceived loss while preserving the risk-pooling function of insurance.
This paper does not present empirical findings or advocate for immediate implementation. Instead, it introduces a testable behavioural hypothesis intended to stimulate further research, experimentation, and policy discussion. It concludes by outlining a research agenda spanning behavioural experiments, actuarial modelling, consumer testing, and regulatory analysis to evaluate the viability of the proposed framework.
The discussion contributes to ongoing conversations on financial inclusion, insurance innovation, and sustainable development by suggesting that improving insurance adoption may require not only addressing economic barriers but also reconsidering how insurance is psychologically experienced by prospective users.