Cairo, 9 December, 2018 - AXA Egypt and Lead Foundation celebrated one year of collaboration and an ongoing successful partnership in the area of microinsurance. In 2017, AXA joined Lead Foundation to support its insurance protection program for 200,000 micro project and small business owners. To mark one year of achievements, a roundtable discussion was held to review what has been accomplished and set the goals for the future.

To document the journey of the program’s entrepreneurs, a documentary entitled “Aman lebokra” or “A safer tomorrow” was screened, detailing each loan journey and the general view this particular segment of society has of insurance and its importance in the context of their specific needs and hopes.

As part of their co-operation, AXA Egypt worked closely with Lead team to develop tools that contribute to greater insurance awareness among their customers. The aim was to help present a clearer vision of how insurance - at affordable price with simple terms - can represent a safety net, and not an additional financial burden for this specific segment, with a simple monthly addition to their loan premiums.

Customers who require microfinance support rely on their daily work to make a living and any disruption – including a serious illness - could have a disastrous impact on their lives. This is where the protection program –designed with the highest international standards- provide them with insurance against varied risks:

 Healthcare that requires hospitalization; where AXA pays EGP 300 for each night spent by the customer in hospital, up to a total of 40 nights per year.

 In the case of life insurance, AXA pays out three times the value of the loan received from Lead Foundation to the deceased customer's family, helping them repay the rest of the loan and supporting them in coping with the financial ramifications of losing the family breadwinner.

AXA has already paid out more than 8,000 claims for both benefits filed by “Hemayet Lead” customers since the launch in November 2017, with claims surpassing the EGP 20 million threshold in this first year. With the help of insurance, more and more people have been encouraged to take better care of their health and seek medical care knowing that their livelihood will not be at risk as a result.

"One of the pillars of AXA's global strategy is its commitment to supporting local entrepreneurs, particularly in the face of global economic challenges, with millions of people in developing countries living below the poverty line, with no fixed income to cover their basic needs. We are proud to be working with Lead and to together empower and provide protection for more and more customers in the future," Khaled el Shaarany, deputy Chairman of AXA Life Insurance.

“Turning our mission into reality Lead partners with low income entrepreneurs especially women bringing a professional approach to understanding their business to be able to offer them the adequate microfinance services that meet their needs. As a result, we learned that our clients needed insurance and “Hemayet Lead” was developed to provide safety for them and protection for their families. For the product to be sustainable over the long term, you need efficient and effective operational processes as well as a good partnership with an insurance company which we have found in AXA.”. Karim Fanous, Executive Director of Lead Foundation, The partnership with Lead Foundation goes beyond providing insurance solutions, with AXA’s corporate responsibility team tailoring some of its community activities to meet the needs of Lead customers. In 2018, AXA reached out to 10,000 out of Lead’s customer base by launching a campaign to promote diabetes awareness, familiarizing them with the symptoms of the disease and the best ways to manage it.

As part of the initiative, AXA helped customers test their blood sugar levels free of charge at 20 Lead branches across the country. AXA Egypt is looking to cover 3 million customers by 2020 on the micro-finance segment. As part of AXA's global strategy to provide customized insurance services to suit the needs of this group of customers. The company has successfully partnered with Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) to provide coverage for over 10 million people across 11 developing countries and hopes to reach 25 million customers by 2020.