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| Mr Kamuzora |
Tanzania has the fastest growing insurance market, recording a growth
of 24 per cent, which is above an average of 15 per cent for most developing
nations.
The growth is also three times more than the country’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) which stands at around 6 per cent.
“Despite challenges posed by poverty among low income earners, Tanzania
has demonstrated a strong base for the growth of microinsurance market in
Africa, one of the indicators that impressed the Making Finance Work For Africa
(MFW4A) and Munich Re Foundation to hold the meeting here,” he said.
It is the eighth microinsurance meeting but the third to be held in
Africa that has brought together 500 participants from 62 countries.
The country got the opportunity to host the event after meeting the
criteria set by insurance experts following a study carried out early this
year. Mr Kamuzora said it was not an easy task to carry through the
microinsurance message among the poor.
“It is for example difficult telling a poor person to pay for insurance
package instead of buying bread to feed the family”, he said, adding: “But the
same poor people are the ones owning mobile phones and making the telecom firms
transactions high.
“Thus, it is an opportunity for the insurance industry to penetrate
their services among the same individuals”.
Another scenario showing positive growth of the sector are the
concerted efforts put in place by the regulatory body and other stakeholders in
the past three years to ensure that customers’ claims are settled on time.
“Currently, it is very rare to hear someone complaining over unpaid
claims,” he observed.
The outcome of the meeting, according to Mr Kamuzora will
revolutionalise the insurance industry in the country by bringing in more
players into the sector.
Speaking at the same occasion, NIKO Insurance Tanzania Limited Chief
Executive Officer, Mr Manfred Sibande said the insurance industry has
concentrated more in urban areas, leaving the rural communities isolated.
“The meeting will provide milestone for the penetration of
microinsurance into the rural areas to tame poverty among societies,” he said.
The Microinsurance Network promotes development and delivery of
effective insurance services for low-income people by encouraging shared
learning, facilitating knowledge generation and dissemination, as well as
providing multistakeholder platform.
Source: The Daily News, http://www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by Sebastian Mrindoko in Dar es
Salaam
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