Jihan Abbas is the founder and CEO of Griffin Insurance, the first digital car insurance company in Kenya. She speaks with MONICA MBOGO on changing the game in the insurance sector.

Brought up in Mombasa, Jihan Abbas attributes her entrepreneurial spirit to her father, an entrepreneur himself dealing in various trades. Although things were pretty slow and easy-going in the coastal region, her father was grooming her to take on the world. Her indomitable will to make a difference is proof of that.

“I used to accompany my dad to work since I was eight. From an early age, I learnt the importance of building something of your own,” Jihan starts.

Like many people, growing up, she did not know exactly how her career path would pan out. At some point, thought that she would be a lawyer. However, the one thing she firmly believed in was entrepreneurship, the associated risks and acquiring substantial results.

With a Bachelor’s degree in finance from Cass Business School in London, she worked on the trading floor in the UK. She worked as a commodity futures trader for a year before she decided to start her own business in 2017.

Having learnt to be a risk taker on the trading floor, she was ready for the possibility of either a loss or a win. The experience had also taught her how to manage people, persevere through tough times and manage stress.

These lessons came in handy as she set up Lami. Lami is an insurance service platform that seeks to digitise the entire insurance process.

As a young female entrepreneur, she knew she would face so many stereotypes that would dampen her willpower. This motivated her to undertake a Master’s degree in business administration at the University of Oxford. This, she says, has validated her stance as a formidable female entrepreneur.

Penetrating the insurance space

With her background in finance, she decided to integrate both the business and technology aspects of insurance. She did this after the realisation that most Kenyans did not have an insurance cover. Her desire to make a difference was her guiding light.

“Africa has only three per cent insurance penetration, with citizens only relying on one source of income. In most cases, these people and businesses are not protected, and if anything goes unplanned, everything collapses. Financial inclusivity is important, but financial stability supersedes it, and insurance is the glue that holds it together. That was my motivation to set up an insurance company,” says the businesswoman.

With Lami’s technology in place, she then set up Griffin Insurance. Through the Griffin Motor App, she is redefining car insurance as the first smart car insurance in Kenya. The application, launched officially in January, uses ultra-modern technologies. This ensures a faster and more efficient way of getting car insurance with no paperwork required.

Among its major feats, despite its less than two years of operation, is cutting down the previous 30-day claim period to just a week. Jihan adds that there is a plan to cut back on the aforementioned time to only a few hours.

As the CEO of Griffin, Jihan is ensuring that the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) understands the potential gain that the company can bring to the insurance sector not only in Kenya but also in Africa. She voices her concerns about the alarming 52 insurance companies in Kenya with only 2.8 per cent market penetration and the lack of digital infrastructure.

According to her, this will allow more people to create digital insurance products that transcend outdated trends and lifestyles. She hopes that regulation in insurance is revamped for the betterment of the entire insurance industry.

“Our main goal is ensuring that customer experience is prioritised. The company has ameliorated some of the services. This enables clients to pause their insurance coverage if they are travelling and pay in instalments for car policies. There is also an emergency bundle just for our customers in case of an accident or even punctures,” she explains.

For Griffin, the goal was to cast aside any traditional means of selling insurance by digitising the entire process. Based on the reception by underwriters and the public, it is well on its way to overhauling the insurance sector. By shifting the entire process online through Griffin, she aims to help underwriters tap into apps, websites, and entirely new points of sale.

“You can use your online banks, but you cannot buy insurance there; we hope to change this. Some underwriters are afraid of working with us, but most of them see our value. We personally do not underwrite; we are just facilitators. All in all, no one can fight technology, and that is good for us,” she expounds.

Changing the status quo

It has not been easy since she quit a well-paying job in London and decided to come back home. Bringing the idea to life took time, as she had to build a solid team to develop Griffin’s core technology.

To start with, funding was definitely a big challenge for her. She reveals that being a woman in this particular industry has been knotty. She attests that raising funds for the longest time has been left to expatriates. Expats have a 50 per cent higher likelihood of acquiring capital from investors.

This explains why we see fewer women and local founders in Kenya’s startup scene compared to countries like Nigeria, where locals dominate the ecosystem. This narrative needs to change. Venture capital funds must justify their investments, especially when local entrepreneurs are the ones building the most practical, real-world solutions,” she reveals.

At the end of the day, however, she insists on clutching any opportunity that arises and making the most of it. For her, remaining resolute in her path has helped her validate and actualise her idea to fruition.

This has also earned her the title of ‘revolutionary entrepreneur’, although she modestly brushes it off. Now leading a team of 13, she sees their rapid achievements as a dream come true.

“Learn every single day, and having a team of people to manage really pushes you as a leader. I need to get feedback from my dad and friends in similar positions. For me, being a leader is being a team player. Each one of us must voice our ideas and opinions, and for that I value our brainstorming sessions.

Leadership to me is a balance between leading a group of individuals whilst working side by side with them,” she says.

What differentiates this insurance company from all the others is that its team does not work on giving superficial services. Their aim is to ensure that they continuously add value throughout their consumer’s car experience. They also prioritise cybersecurity, regularly updating their systems to guarantee top-grade data protection.

“With the new data protection laws, no one is allowed to sell data. People need to trust you as an insurance company. We do our best to ensure every single one of these laws is followed to protect our clients,” she says.

As a young pioneer in the digital insurance space, she hopes to motivate young developers to use their technology and innovate around the insurance industry. To that effect, they have made their technology available to anyone willing to create digital insurance products.

Her main target is to make sure that the three per cent barrier is conquered. Fortunately, she attests that although many people were not keen on digitised insurance, they were excited and shocked at how easy the whole process is.

Having seen the potential that technology presents, she urges more women and locals to get into the digital insurance space for the betterment of the entire platform. And with the increased uptake of fintech services, she and her team are keeping to their promise of being innovators, with plans to set up a similar medical product in Kenya and beyond.

She also has some words of wisdom for entrepreneurs: “Entrepreneurship is not easy. Try to validate your ideas with the least resources before taking the big leap. Once you decide that it is viable, take the risk and be relentless in your objectives.”

This article was first published in the March issue of ParentsAfrica Magazine.