Kate Rinehart-Smit

Kate Rinehart-Smit
Cenfri

Kate Rinehart-Smit is an associate for Cenfri’s risk portfolio that works with regulators, development partners and industry to advance insurance sector development in sub-Saharan Africa. She is particularly interested in how insurance can play a broader role in economic development, the application of behavioural science to encourage the uptake and sustained usage of financial products, how to create innovative business models and the role of the financial sector in climate risk adaptation.

Prior to Cenfri, Kate worked as a programme coordinator for Truelift in Washington, DC. Before that, she worked at Seva Mandir, a grassroots NGO in India and at Casscells and Associate, a health consulting firm in Washington, DC.

She holds a bachelor’s in international studies with a focus on Africa from Southern Methodist University in Texas, a master’s in development studies from the University of Cape Town, as well as a certificate in design thinking from the Hasso Plattner Institute.

Articles by Kate Rinehart-Smit

Guest Articles

Monday
December 21
2020

Kate Rinehart-Smit

Insurance in the Age of COVID-19: The Pandemic Highlights the Need for a New Approach

With much of the world on lockdown due to COVID-19, many businesses are closing down – either temporarily or permanently – with devastating effects on individual welfare and entire economies. This has amplified the importance of insurance, says Kate Rinehart-Smit at Cenfri. She explores how the sector can make a greater impact – not only on the resilience of businesses and individuals, but on broader economic development.

Categories
Coronavirus, Finance

Tags
business development, corporations, COVID-19, development finance, financial health, financial inclusion, global development, insurance, MSMEs, public policy
Guest Articles

Friday
May 29
2020

Kate Rinehart-Smit / Mia Thom

Risk vs. Resilience: Insuring Sustainable African Cities in the Age of Climate Change

Though COVID-19 dominates the global conversation, climate change continues to have devastating effects. For instance, there were 53 climate-related disasters in Africa in 2018 alone – and these challenges are likely to get worse as the continent urbanizes. Kate Rinehart-Smit and Mia Thom at Cenfri suggest four interventions that can help insurers protect African cities and infrastructure against climate disasters.

Categories
Environment, Finance

Tags
climate change, global development, insurance, urban development

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