Fawry secures FRA license for a new EGP 60 mn micro-ins. arm

Fintech giant Fawry is officially entering the ins. space, after securing approval from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) for its new subsidiary, Fawry for Microins., with a starting budget of EGP 60 mn, of which Fawry owns 90%, according to a press release (pdf). The new arm will sell basic, low-cost coverage for health, life, personal accidents, and assets designed for gig workers and small businesses.

The rationale: “The ins. market in Egypt is very small and untapped, with lots of room for growth, for both existing and non-existent products,” Fawry’s Director of Investor Relations Hassan Abdelgelil tells EnterpriseAM. “In fact, there are ins. products that exist with no cost-effective avenue to reach potential customers,” he added.

Why it matters: Fawry is leveraging the power of embedded finance to open up a new revenue stream, where it doesn’t have to build an expensive new sales team to sell ins.; the company is simply adding a button to a network that 24 mn app users already access. This proves that dominating the distribution channels is just as important as the product itself.

Earnings snapshot: The EGX-listed fintech giant saw its net income surge 79.8% y-o-y lastyear to reach EGP 2.9 bn, while its top line jumped 57% y-o-y to EGP 8.7 bn.