Businesspeople that trade in the Kantamanto Market in Accra Central woke up to very unpleasant news on Sunday the 5th of May, 2013: the market, which is one of the capital’s busiest business districts, had been engulfed that dawn by a fire that destroyed goods preliminarily estimated to be worth millions of Ghana cedis. A series of interviews conducted by MicroEnsure staff on the 6th of May recorded one trader, Madam Freda Owusu, as saying: “I took out a loan of GHS 5,000.00 on the 30th of April, just a week before the fire. Now I have to figure out how I am going to pay [back] that loan and also restart my business.” Her words represented the thoughts of many – if not all – of the affected traders present and interviewed. Madam Freda Owusu is a customer of Advans Ghana Savings and Loans, one of the financial institutions whose customers were affected by the fire (the others including Opportunity International Savings and Loans, Adehyeman Savings and Loans, Women’s World Banking Ghana, and Christian Community Microfinance). The named financial institutions all offer enhanced credit-linked insurance policies - designed and developed by MicroEnsure – which have unique benefits embedded in their loan products. The policy assures the repayment of the outstanding loan amount plus one month’s interest to the offering financial institution should the borrower incur certain covered risks, including total property destruction from fire and allied perils. Additionally, the affected borrower receives a cash amount of GHS 200.00 to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Exactly a week after the fire, MicroEnsure together with its underwriting partners - Enterprise Insurance Company Limited, Star Assurance, Vanguard Assurance and Provident Insurance - began paying out claims on behalf of and to the affected borrowers to these financial institutions. As at the time of going to press, over 360 individual claims had been reported of which 158 have been fully paid and 202 fully processed for payment. Reflecting on events with respect to the rapid turnaround on claim payments, Ms Caroline Afedoe, an Account Executive at MicroEnsure Ghana, said: “It is due to unforeseen incidents such as this that we urge all microfinance institutions and savings and loans companies to make insurance an embedded feature on their products, as participating institutions reduce their losses due to unforeseen risk events, as well as help their customers get back on their feet after the events occur – a win-win situation.” MicroEnsure Ghana Country Manager, Ms Adjoa Kusiwaa Boateng, also added: “It is MicroEnsure’s mandate to provide affordable and innovative insurance products that meet the needs of the majority of Ghanaians who do not have any safety nets during calamities such as this. Together with our underwriting partners, we serve 1.2 million clients in Ghana, and aim to increase this figure as we lead the way to create awareness of and trust in microinsurance.” While disbursing the first batch of claim payments just 8 days after the event, Mrs Barbara Odei, Chief Operating Officer of Advans Ghana Savings and Loans, sympathized with the fire victims, expressed gratitude to MicroEnsure Ghana for helping to ensure the quick turnaround in claims payments and intimated her hope that the momentum would be kept up until all claims were fully settled.