- The meeting will share lessons and experiences on strategies deployed to catalyse the development of insurance sectors for inclusivity and innovation..
- Delegates will also explore client value and viability dimensions of national health insurance schemes in Africa.
- Insights and lessons from trends and business models on inclusive digital insurance solutions; taking stock of what has worked and what has not worked will be shared.
Kenya is preparing to host the Eastern and Southern Africa regional conference on inclusive insurance, which is part of a series of regional learning sessions aimed at contributing to the development of inclusive insurance markets in Africa.
Across the continent, insurance penetration remains low and different players including governments have been deploying various strategies to scale up uptake of various cover products.
The eighth regional conference is modeled as a combination of high-quality training and plenary forums that are aimed at sharing insights on inclusive insurance business models that are making access to low-income market segments in Africa possible.
Themed ‘Driving Inclusive Insurance Agenda: Closing the Protection Gap’, the Nairobi meeting will be hosted by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Kenya (IRA) and Munich Re Foundation in Nairobi from April 24th-26th.
IRA Commissioner of Insurance and Chief Executive Godfrey Kiptum said despite Africa having one of the lowest insurance penetration rates in the world, the regions’ appetite for insurance is growing.
“To cater to growing demand, Africa’s insurance market will need a makeover. The conference is aimed at sharing insights on inclusive insurance business models that are making access to low-income market segments in Africa possible,” explained Kiptum.
Industry experiences
The conference will see international, regional and local professionals in the sector come together to exchange their industry experiences and to engage on a number of key topics on inclusive insurance business.
Participants will also get high-quality training and plenary sessions supported by the FSD Africa, Association of Kenya Insurers, APA insurance, AB Consultants, FinProbity Solutions, Africa-Re and The Microinsurance Network.
“The organisation and implementation of this conference is based on the strong belief of the power of learning and sharing; the conference therefore brings international, regional and local professionals who will exchange experiences and discuss a number of key themes and topics on inclusive insurance business,” Mr Kiptum explained.
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Representatives from insurance and reinsurance companies, brokers, distribution channels, international organisations, NGOs, development-aid agencies, policymakers, regulators and supervisors in Africa will be attending the conference.
Some of the Key topics to be discussed include climate risk and agricultural insurance, MSME Insurance, inclusive digital insurance models, and how to enable inclusive insurance market, among others.
Emerging as a key growth area for the inclusivity of Insurance in a number of countries; an exploration of emerging and promising models for extending insurance to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will also be explored in the workshop.
Also under focus will be on client value and viability dimensions of national Health Insurance schemes in Africa.
The IRA 2021 Annual report indicates that Africa reported premiums of $74.2 billion accounting for 1.1 percent of the world insurance premiums. This was an increase of 6.2 percent in premium compared to a decline of 1.9 percent in 2020.
Africa’s long-term insurance premium grew by 7.1 percent in real terms to $51.32 billion (2020: USD 41.83 billion) whereas, the general insurance premium recorded a growth of 4.4 percent to $22.88 billion (2020: USD 20.05 billion) due to economic rebound from pandemic-induced recession in 2020.
