Staff Directory

Anaar Kara

Senior Financial Sector Specialist

Anaar leads CGAP’s work on inclusive insurance, leveraging her strong experience leading programs in inclusive insurance.  

Before joining CGAP in 2023, Anaar led Emerging Customer’s Public Private Partnerships and inclusive insurance programs for smallholders across the globe at AXA. Prior to this, she worked in agricultural investment for emerging economies as an investment officer at responsAbility Investments AG, and on various inclusive insurance projects, including climate insurance projects for smallholders during her tenure as Director of Development at PlaNet Guarantee.  She has also worked for the World Food Program and for IFAD on developing climate insurance for smallholder farmers.

A French and Canadian national, Anaar holds a master’s degree in Finance from Grenoble Ecole de Management, a bachelor’s degree in International Management from McGill University in Canada, and she is qualified as Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). She is based in Paris.
 

By Anaar Kara

Research

Confronting the Climate and Health Nexus: Lessons from Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)

This case study is the third in CGAP's series on scaling inclusive insurance while preserving consumer value. Aimed at distribution networks — specifically grassroots networks — and insurers, it takes a deep dive into SEWA's innovative heat insurance product, developed with partners and grounded in direct insights into the needs and risks of its members.
Research

Scaling Inclusive Insurance through Government Systems: Lessons from the World Food Programme

Drawing on WFP's work in Zambia, Ethiopia, Cuba, and Guatemala, this case study shows how inclusive insurance can build food-secure nations at scale. Key lessons: government integration cuts costs and drives uptake; forecast-based payouts protect smallholder livelihoods faster; and risk reduction is no longer optional — it is a prerequisite for insurability.
Blog

What's the Holdup? Regulatory Friction and Inclusive Insurance

To scale inclusive insurance, we must move from creating frameworks to making them investable. Here, we highlight how shifting toward risk-based approvals, cross-agency coordination, and institutionalized public-private dialogue can turn regulatory friction into market-ready solutions.
Blog

Navigating Standalone Licenses in Inclusive Insurance

Over the past two decades, more than 30 jurisdictions have begun offering special licenses for inclusive insurance. By letting newcomers sell affordable and customer-centric plans, they’ve encouraged market expansion and innovation. Now, insurance authorities are refining these rules.
Research

Leveraging Social Protection Networks for Inclusive Insurance: Lessons from Fiji

This case study draws on UNCDF's experience in Fiji to explore the effectiveness of social protection networks as a distribution channel and the role of subsidies. It reveals three conditions are needed for success: strong policy backing, long-standing UNCDF engagement, and existing social protection networks.