Above: a farming project in Haiti, which is reportedly seeing increased interest in insurance (UN Photo/Logan Abassi)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s Alternative Insurance Company has received $2 million in new investments, according to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

The funding comes from a pair of $1 million equity investments from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and MEDA/Sarona Asset Management.

The Inter-American Development bank has already granted a $2 million loan to the company, which insures customers from low-income individuals to commercial enterprises.

“A robust insurance sector is an important precondition to sustainable reconstruction and mitigation of future risk in Haiti, a disaster-prone country,” said Clinton Bush Haiti Fund CEO Gary Edson. “Insurance access improves initial disaster response, gets individuals and businesses back on their feet faster, and reassures investors about the security of their investments.”

AIC CEO Olivier Barrau said more Haitians were looking to insurance coverage.

“We are all learning that a prevention culture makes us stronger in an environment highly exposed to risk,” he said.

Among AIC’s micro-coverage is a funeral insurance product called Protecta, which allows families to have a safety net in the event of death in the family.

According to an AIC report, a funeral in Haiti costs, on average, 11 times the monthly income of a low-income family.

“By strengthening AIC’s capital base, we are helping AIC offer this and, in turn, act as a beacon for what insurance in Haiti can be,” Edson said.