13 June 2014: Bima has won two awards at the FT and IFC Transformational Business Conference. The first is the award for Transformational Business within ICT. This award recognises ground-breaking transactions, programmes and initiatives that harness the power of ICT to address basic needs at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) — the more than 4 billion people with income below $8 per day in purchasing power parity or who lack access to basic goods, services, livelihoods and income-generating opportunities — and have the potential to transform communities and their aspirations in the long term. Bima is extremely proud to receive this prestigious award for its work in harnessing the power and ubiquity of mobile phone technology to offer and sell insurance to the BOP.
Bima also took home the Award for Excellence in Transformational Business, what the FT/IFC called the ‘Winner of the Winners’ award. Bima is extremely honoured to be recognised alongside some incredible initiatives in this space, including Afghanistan’s innovative mobile operator Roshan, not to mention the other 237 entries from 214 institutions in 61 countries which entered the awards.
Bima’s CEO, Gustaf Agartson attended the Conference and Award ceremony on the 13th of June to collect the award and meet with the other candidates and judges. “It is incredible to think that just 3 years ago we were setting up our first operations in Ghana and today we have launched in 11 markets, with 8 million subscribers — and more than 85% of these customers would not have access to financial protection if they did not have insurance from Bima. We also employ more than 1,500 people across these markets and hope to make an impact on all of our employee’s lives as well through the skills and values that Bima brings to our teams. And this is just the beginning!” he said. “We are so grateful for these awards and the recognition we have received from the FT/IFC as a result.”
A complete list of the winners and judges can be found on the FT’s website here.