Business sessions begin to bridge insurance gap

Tanzania Insurance Brokers Association together with Association of Tanzania Insurers jointly hands over a dummy cheque of 20m/- to disaster coordinator from Prime Minister's Office, Mr Edger Senga (right) during their awareness walk yesterda

DAILY NEWS Reporte

FINANCIAL Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT) in partnership with the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA), has launched Regional Business Case sessions in Mwanza Region to help bridge the gap between insurance industry and rural informal segment of the economy.

The FSDT Executive Director, Sosthenes Kewe, said in Mwanza yesterday that the Regional Business Case sessions have been conceptualised to extend the sensitisation of the micro insurance business case beyond Dar es Salaam, to stimulate micro insurance demand as well as distribution partnerships in the regions.
“The launch of the Regional Business Case sessions is part of the continued deliberate efforts to develop the Inclusive Insurance Market in Tanzania,” he said.
Themed ‘Insurance for everyone’, the Mwanza sessions have attracted various players in the insurance sector and will kick-start a series of many other similar sessions throughout the country.
He said the sessions are designed to bring together different market players, especially insurance companies and distribution channels, with a view to elaborate the micro insurance business case.
He said the sessions are expected to create awareness on the benefits of insurance to all market segments, including the low-income market and of available products for the low-income market segments of Tanzania.
The regional business case sessions bring together insurers and all potential aggregators and distribution channels to discuss risk management needs and potential distribution partnerships.
Mr Kewe said the sessions are intended to create direct linkages with the rural informal sectors of the economy that are financially excluded, taking advantage of existing informal structures.
These include farmer groups, women groups and associations, cooperatives, youth enterprise development organisations, religious groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“The sessions present an opportunity for insurance companies to explore different distribution options and products that can meet the risk management needs of lowincome people living in the rural areas,” he said, adding that business models need to be tailored to the circumstances and characteristics of rural households,” he said.
The regional business case sessions are part of market facilitation initiatives spearheaded by the Micro Insurance Technical Working Group (TWG) and supported by the FSDT and TIRA.
He mentioned some of the subjects to be explored as Health and Hospitalisation insurance (families), agriculture insurance (weather and livestock), life insurance (credit and non-credit) and property and travel insurance (micro-business).
Insurance, he added, if well designed and made accessible, presents an effective risk management tool for everyone. Currently, majority Tanzanians do not use insurance due to lack of knowledge and information on available and appropriate insurance services.
Despite the fact that insurance industry has been growing at a rate of over 20 per cent annually for over a decade, its penetration level is just 1 per cent of the country’s GDP against the world average of 2.3 per cent.