Unprecedented interest in European Microfinance Award 2025; record field of applications received for Award on ‘Building Resilience through Inclusive Insurance’
Unprecedented interest in European Microfinance Award 2025; record field of applications received for Award on ‘Building Resilience through Inclusive Insurance’
Round 1 of the European Microfinance Award 2025 (EMA2025) on ‘Building Resilience through Inclusive Insurance’ has closed, having a record number of applications – 103 organisations from 43 countries – far in excess of the previous record (set in 2022) both in number of applicants and the countries where they work.
Since its first edition in 2006, the EMA has been highlighting diverse initiatives in inclusive finance, with this year’s Award seeking to highlight organisations that enable low-income and vulnerable people to build resilience and manage risk thanks to inclusive and effective insurance.
Vulnerable and low-income populations face numerous risks that threaten their financial stability and overall well-being. Economic shocks, such as inflation, job losses, or sudden changes in market conditions, can quickly erode limited savings and push families deeper into poverty. By providing financial protection against unforeseen events, insurance helps low-income households mitigate losses, recover more quickly, and build resilience against future shocks. Insurance can also empower individuals to approach life with greater confidence, enabling better planning, investment, and financial stability in the face of uncertainty.
The recently-published Landscape of Microinsurance 2024, published by Microinsurance Network, e-MFP’s strategic partner in the implementation of the EMA2025, shows both how much progress has been made, but also the enormous gaps that remain in providing the world’s poor and vulnerable with access to quality and valuable insurance.
The EMA team is therefore beyond delighted to have received such an enormous and unprecedentedly diverse field of applicants and initiatives in 43 countries, from an equally broad range of organisations, among them 32 MFIs, 21 Fintechs or Insurtechs, 16 insurers, 8 banks, 4 NGOs, 3 networks, 3 cooperatives or credit unions, 3 agents or brokers, and 13 from yet other categories altogether.
The EMA team will now commence evaluating these applications against a rigorous evaluation grid with established criteria for both eligibility and innovation. This process will determine which applicants will be invited to participate in Round 2, which itself will then be further reduced to a number passed on to an expert Selection Committee, largely made up of e-MFP and InFiNe.lu members and which will meet in September to choose the semi-finalists and the three finalists. These final three will be evaluated by a High Jury and the winner announced during European Microfinance Week in November.
The EMA organisers would like to thank all the organisations that have taken part in this application round, in particular those from the microinsurance sector who are new to this Award process, and we look forward very much to beginning what will be a complex, challenging but rewarding evaluation process.
