Themed ‘Insurance for everyone’, the launch of the Regional Business Case sessions is part of the continued deliberate efforts to develop the Inclusive Insurance Market in Tanzania.
DAR ES SALAAM, September 27 2016-The Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT), in partnership with the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA) has launched Regional Business Case sessions in Mwanza.The Business Case Sessions aim at bridging the gap between the insurance industry and the rural informal segment of the country’s economy.
Themed ‘Insurance for everyone’, the launch of the Regional Business Case sessions is part of the continued deliberate efforts to develop the Inclusive Insurance Market in Tanzania. 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.
The FSDT Executive Director, Sosthenes Kewe said, “the Regional Business Case sessions have been conceptualized to extend the sensitization of the micro insurance business case beyond Dar es Salaam, but more importantly, to stimulate micro insurance demand as well as distribution partnerships in the regions.”
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.
According to Kewe, 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 organizations, religious groups and Non-governmental organizations.
“The sessions present an opportunity for insurance companies to explore different distribution options and products that can meet the risk management needs of low-income people living in the rural areas. More importantly, business models need to be tailored to the circumstances and characteristics of rural households,” said Kewe.
The regional business case sessions are part of market facilitation initiatives spearheaded by the Micro Insurance Technical Working Group (TWG) and supported by the Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT) and Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority (TIRA).
Kewe 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.
He mentioned some of the subjects to be explored as Health and Hospitalization insurance (families), Agriculture insurance (weather and livestock), Life insurance (credit and non-credit) and Property and Travel insurance (micro-business).
Insurance, 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.