Virginie Pouna Ngomi focuses on helping African families protect their health and belongings without complicated paperwork. She studies local needs and creates tailored insurance tools that fit African realities.

As a Cameroonian actuary and entrepreneur, Virginie launched COVA Africa in 2021. She serves as its CEO. The startup builds digital solutions that break down barriers to insurance for low-income households across Africa.

COVA Africa uses an "as-a-service" distribution model. It launched a platform that embeds insurance products into offers from merchants, mobile apps, fintech firms, and microfinance institutions. This approach makes buying insurance simple and seamless for everyday people.

The company cooperates closely with local partners. It designs products covering health, life, accidents, funerals, property, and agriculture. It also links micro-insurance to daily purchases like travel, subscriptions, and gadgets. Loyalty programs further encourage adoption. To ensure reliability, COVA Africa works with insurers in Africa and France.

Recognition followed quickly. In 2023, COVA Africa won the sixth CATAPULT Financial Inclusion Africa Program, organized by Luxembourg’s House of Financial Technology. This year, the startup joined BimaLab Africa, a pan-African insurance accelerator.

Virginie’s education laid a strong foundation. She earned a DEUG in applied mathematics in 2005 from Faculté des sciences Semlalia in Marrakech, Morocco. She completed a Master’s in Innovation Science and Risk Management that same year at Pierre and Marie Curie University in France. Additionally, she holds an actuarial engineering degree from the Institute of Statistics at the University of Paris.

Her career began in 2008 with internships at AXA Liabilities Managers and Allianz France. She then became a junior actuary at ALTIA, an insurance consulting firm, in 2010. By 2011, she advanced to senior actuarial analyst at PwC, a leader in audit, insurance, taxation, and legal services.

Between 2014 and 2021, Virginie sharpened her skills at Activa Assurances Group. There, she held diverse roles: actuary, deputy director, innovation director, and retail director.

Melchior Koba