Dalili Advisors’ Integrated Geoportal and Digital Underwriting Platform (IndexInsure) is a production-ready InsurTech solution that automates Index-based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) and Animal Encroachment (AE) covers for pastoralist communities in Northern Nigeria. Built after successful feasibility studies in Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau, and Sokoto states, the platform integrates Earth Observation (EO) data processing with end-to-end digital underwriting and payouts. It directly supports a 2-year pilot phase funded by subsidies and technical assistance, serving a consortium of five insurers with Africa Re-aligned reinsurance reporting. By leveraging satellite datasets (CHIRPS, NDVI, SPEI, Soil Moisture) against pre-defined Unit Areas of Insurance (UAIs), the system delivers objective, near-real-time forage anomaly indices that trigger automated payouts—protecting herder livelihoods and reducing climate induced (water and forage) conflicts in fragile rangelands.
The platform promotes seamless insurance and reinsurance-related business and transactions through full automation of the insurance value chain. Raw EO data is ingested via dedicated microservices, processed through Temporal-orchestrated workflows (including raster clipping-rangeland masks, zonal statistics-agroclimatic homogeneity, and seasonal cumulative NDVI computation), and evaluated by a rules-based Decision Engine. Once index thresholds are met, the Trigger Engine initiates payouts via Airtel SmartCash, with complete audit logging and integration to insurer core systems. This eliminates manual underwriting delays, ensures data reproducibility from 2003–2025 for historical back-testing, and generates insurer-ready index bulletins and compliance reports.
The modular architecture (Laravel Core API, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, Python EO services, and observability stack with Prometheus/Loki/Grafana) guarantees reliability, scalability, and traceability, thereby transforming what were previously fragmented, high-cost operations into efficient, auditable digital transactions. It improves insurance penetration in the market by making index insurance accessible to one of Africa’s most underserved segments: mobile pastoralists in conflict-prone ecosystems. Traditional barriers—high basis risk, slow claims processing, and low trust—are removed through mobile-first channels (USSD/app onboarding, SMS trigger alerts) and instant mobile-money payouts. Herders receive objective, satellite-derived triggers based on rangeland productivity and transhumance corridors, enabling them to afford inputs during drought without selling livestock.
Pilot deployment across four states has already produced automated seasonal bulletins and payout simulations, demonstrating faster liquidity support and reduced livelihood shocks. By lowering distribution costs and building trust through transparent, data-driven triggers, the platform expands uptake among rural populations where agricultural insurance penetration remains critically low. The solution promotes collaboration among insurance stakeholders by design. Developed as a shared consortium platform, it provides unified access for multiple insurers, brokers, and agents to the same geospatial indices, UAI maps, and dashboards. Reinsurers (including Africa Re) receive standardized SLAs, audit trails, and reinsurance-grade reporting via the digital operations pack. Regulators benefit from built-in KYC/data-protection compliance, role-based access control (RBAC), and encrypted channels. Consumers (herders) are actively engaged through SMS/Email notifications and planned WhatsApp/USSD expansions, while the lead underwriter coordinates consortium-wide training and SOPs. This multi-stakeholder ecosystem—spanning consumers, companies, cedants, and regulators—fosters joint product monitoring and risk-pool efficiency that would be impossible with siloed tools. It promotes insurance industry and product development by embedding advanced actuarial and geospatial capabilities into daily operations.
The EO Pipeline and Computation Engine enable precise index design, drought trend analysis, vegetation baseline computation, and threshold calibration using 23 years of historical data. This supports rapid innovation: new seasonal covers, refined UAIs based on biophysical parameters, and performance evaluation of existing products. The platform’s Decision and Trigger Engines allow insurers to test and iterate underwriting rules in sandbox mode before production rollout. By automating what was previously manual and error-prone analysis, it accelerates product scaling, reduces actuarial loadings, and creates reinsurance-ready data—directly contributing to a more sophisticated, climate-resilient African insurance market.
Finally, the platform is actively being used by relevant stakeholders. It is currently operational in the pilot phase with the five-insurer consortium. Sandbox and production environments are live, EO data ingestion and index bulletins are running, and end-to-end workflows (including Airtel payouts) have been validated through User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Insurers use the Geoportal for real-time monitoring and reporting; herders receive automated triggers and payments; Africa Re partners receive compliance outputs. Administrator and user guides, together with the full digital operations pack, have been delivered, ensuring sustainable adoption. The architecture’s observability and audit features confirm daily usage across all layers. In summary, Dalili Advisors’ platform exemplifies the InsurTech Initiative of the Year by delivering a scalable, Africa-centric solution that automates index insurance from satellite to payout. Its seamless transactions expanded market penetration, multi-stakeholder collaboration, product innovation, and proven pilot usage position it as a transformative force for agricultural risk financing across the continent. This is not conceptual innovation—it is a deployed system already protecting vulnerable livelihoods while strengthening the entire insurance ecosystem.
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