Sanlam to ride on low insurance penetration for growth

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Sanlam Kenya Group chairman John Simba said the insurer is refining its strategy to capture emerging segments of the consumer market with disposable incomes.
Insurance penetration in Kenya stands at below 3 per cent of the population compared to South Africa’s 13 per cent.
Mr Simba said sustained education campaigns focusing on the values and benefits of insurance could give the insurance industry the boost it needs to grow in the short and medium term.
He said the slowdown in economic growth in the past year had a negative impact on the insurance industry, which registered a 6.6 per cent premiums growth in 2017 compared to an annual growth of 12.3 per cent in 2016.

Financial services company Sanlam Kenya is banking on revamped marketing and sales drives to capture a bigger share of the untapped consumer market.

Sanlam Kenya Group chairman John Simba said the insurer is refining its strategy to capture emerging segments of the consumer market with disposable incomes.

“Insurance is a measure of economic growth since as people’s incomes grow consumers are better able to see the need for insurance products,” said Mr Simba.

“Over the years, one of the challenges we have faced as a country is low insurance penetration across the board. But we have come to see the opportunity that lies in the low insurance penetration.”

Insurance penetration in Kenya stands at below 3 per cent of the population compared to South Africa’s 13 per cent.

Mr Simba said sustained education campaigns focusing on the values and benefits of insurance could give the insurance industry the boost it needs to grow in the short and medium term.

He said the slowdown in economic growth in the past year had a negative impact on the insurance industry, which registered a 6.6 per cent premiums growth in 2017 compared to an annual growth of 12.3 per cent in 2016.

The subdued expansion was largely driven by accelerated growth in the life insurance segment, which grew by 13.6 per cent compared to the general insurance segment that only grew 2.5 per cent.

Overall premiums however remain largely skewed in favour of general insurance, which accounted for 60 per cent of the Sh207.7 billion premiums collected in the year ended December 31, 2017.

Sanlam Kenya’s acting group CEO George Kuria said Sanlam Kenya’s strategy is to make its products more relevant to the market in addition to filing in any existing gaps.

In terms of re-engineering the business model, we now have working teams spread across our businesses who are exploring new business opportunities, refocusing on building partnerships and developing innovative ideas to grow our business,” said Mr Kuria.

“Insurance products are really the same at the core and the differentiator lies in how you package them. We are therefore paying more emphasis on how we deliver our products to our clients.”