COVA, Maviance Bring Auto Insurance Payments to Smobilpay Network in Cameroon

Digital insurance broker COVA and payments company Maviance added auto insurance to Cameroon’s Smobilpay network, opening another distribution channel for a market where insurers issued CFA288.7 billion in premiums in 2024.

The companies announced the integration on September 7, 2026. Motorists will be able to purchase or renew insurance and pay their premiums at multiservice outlets that use Maviance’s Smobilpay platform. According to the two companies, the service covers cars, motorcycles and trucks. Insurance therefore joins the other categories of payments already distributed through Maviance’s infrastructure.

For COVA, the partnership broadens the channels available to distribute insurance products. The company describes itself as a digital broker licensed by Cameroon’s Finance Ministry and says it works with insurance companies operating in the country.

Its technology infrastructure is designed to integrate insurance products into the networks of banks, microfinance institutions, telecom operators and fintech companies.

Businesses and Smobilpay Agents Also Targeted

The partnership also includes services for businesses. According to the announcement, companies will be able to use Maviance’s platform to centralize premium payments for insurance covering their employees and vehicle fleets. Smobilpay agents are also expected to earn income from the additional transactions. COVA and Maviance, however, did not disclose commission amounts or how the revenue will be divided.

The agreement comes as Cameroon’s insurance industry prepares to digitize auto insurance certificates. The initiative is among the priorities included in the roadmap presented by the new executive board of the Association of Insurance Companies of Cameroon (ASAC), which took office in December 2025.

COVA and Maviance say their system will support that reform and that insurance status could eventually be verified digitally during roadside checks using a vehicle’s license plate.

The companies present license-plate verification as a future development. However, no official document from the Finance Ministry or ASAC reviewed at this stage establishes that roadside verification based exclusively on license plates has already taken effect.

Commercial Reach Remains Unclear

The scale of the partnership has yet to be established. The companies did not disclose how many Smobilpay outlets will actually offer the service, how many insurers are already connected, or their targets for policies sold and premiums collected.

Those figures will be important in determining whether the new channel materially changes how auto insurance is distributed in Cameroon. The companies’ announcement also describes Cameroon’s insurance market as generating about CFA260 billion in revenue, but does not specify the year or source for that figure.

Available official statistics are higher. According to indicators published by the Finance Ministry on February 18, 2026, insurers issued CFA288.7 billion in premiums in 2024, up from CFA274.6 billion in 2023. Property and casualty insurance, which includes auto coverage, accounted for CFA190.3 billion in premiums in 2024.

B.E.