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EAC insurance regulators in talks for uniform policies

INSURE

Kenya has the highest insurance penetration in the region. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Regional insurance regulators have taken initial steps towards harmonisation of policies in the six-nation East African Community bloc in a bid to boost penetration.

Heads of regulatory agencies in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi and their representatives meeting in Nairobi stressed the need to have common laws and policies for the industry to smoothen cross-border operations.

This, chairman of East African Insurance Supervisory Association (EAISA) Ibrahim Kaddunabbi said this will facilitate faster growth in uptake of insurance

“The contribution of the insurance sector to the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) is still very low,” Mr Kaddunabbi, also chief executive of Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda said in a statement.

“This means that, as regulators we’ll need to come up with favourable policies to help spur the growth of the sector.”

Kenya has the highest insurance penetration in the region at 2.71 percent of GDP as at the end of 2017, a drop from 2.75 percent the year before, while the levels in Tanzania nd Uganda are below one percent.

Kenya, however, trails South Africa, Namibia and Morocco where penetration levels stood at 13.76 per cent, 7.55 per cent and 3.49 per cent, respectively.

“By putting our heads together as regulators through such workshops, we’ll be able to share ideas and forge a common front in tackling emerging regulatory issues in the region as markets dynamics change,” Kenya’s Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) acting chief executive Godfrey Kiptum said.