MICROFINANCE EVENT: Micro Health Insurance Conference 2009, December 2-3, 2009 Organized by Pro Micro Health Insurance (MHI) Africa in Lilongwe, Malaw

Event Name: Lessons Learnt and Lessons to Learn in the Field of Micro Health Insurance in Africa

Event Date: December 2-3, 2009

Event Location: Lilongwe, Malawi, Malawi Institute of Management

See Our Comprehensive Event Calendar Here: http://microfinanceassociation.ning.com/events

Cost:

Conference fee for citizens of Malawi: 2500 MWK

Conference fee for internationals: €50

The conference fee must be paid in advance using bank transfer to the following bank account:

National Bank of Malawi

P.O Box 13, Zomba

A/c Name: Pro-MHI Project; A/c N°: 0141137155500

SWIFT CODE: NBMAMWMW

The registration fee can be waived for Malawians and Internationals who demonstrate need. This fee in part covers lunch and tea as well as one common dinner.

Who Should Attend?

Various microinsurance stakeholders in Africa and worldwide

Summary of Event:

The international Pro MHI Africa team will hold a final conference at the end of their two year project in December 2009 in Lilongwe. The project analyses the efficiency and sustainability of local micro health insurance units in Ghana, Botswana and Malawi. Common research results and general outcomes of the two year project will be presented at the conference and hence new information on the potential, efficiency and sustainability of Micro Health Insurance in Botswana, Ghana and Malawi will disseminated [1].

Event Theme and Topics:

* Challenges of MHI in Africa
* Insurance education
* Internal conditions of MHI
* External context of MHI
* MHI in Malawi

Background on Organizer:

Department for Cooperative Studies of the University of Cologne is an Academic Institution in Cologne, Germany. The department is engaged in research and teaching activities related to cooperative forms of micro finance, including savings and credit services as well as other financial products such as insurance services. Its regions of operation include Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia [2].

Pro MHI Africa is an EU-African university network consisting of a team of researchers from four universities in Botswana, Germany, Ghana and Malawi. The network aims to analyse the potential, efficiency and sustainability of Micro Health Insurance. The Pro MHI Africa team has been conducting a comparative household survey in Botswana, Ghana and Malawi and at the same time developing common teaching and training modules in the field of Micro Health Insurance for university students as well as microinsurance practitioners.

Pro MHI Africa is kindly funded by the ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Higher Education (EDULINK). A programme of the ACP Group of States, with the financial assistance of the European Union. EDULINK is the first ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Higher Education. The programme aims to foster capacity building and regional integration in the field of higher education through institutional networking, and to support a quality higher education system that is relevant to the needs of the labour market and consistent with ACP socio-economic development priorities [1].

Registration: The registration deadline for this conference is November 10, 2009. Registration forms can be submitted via fax (+49-221-470 5064) or online. Forms are available at: http://www.microhealthinsurance-africa.org/registration.html.

For additional information, please contact:

Lisa-Marie Rohrdantz

Pro MHI Africa c/o Department for Cooperative Studies of the University of Cologne

Albertus-Magnus-Platz

50923 Cologne, Germany

Telephone: +49-221-470 2646
Fax: +49-221-470 5064

Email: lisa-marie.rohrdantz@uni-koeln.de

Regarding hotel reservations and access to the conference venue, please contact Dr. Winford Masanjala: wmasanjala@chanco.unima.mw or economics@chanco.unima.mw, Phone: +265-999425100 or +265-1951135,

Fax: +265-1525021.

By: Diya Chopra, Research Associate

Bibliography:

[1] Pro MHI Africa

http://www.microhealthinsurance-africa.org/final_conference.html

[2] Microfinance Gateway

http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.11.46865