'Insurance is a good avenue to invest'

Briefly tell us about the African Insurance Organisation.
The African Insurance Organisation (AIO) was established in 1972 in Mauritius to develop a healthy insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa and to promote inter-African cooperation on insurance in Africa.
Membership to AIO is open to insurance industry regulatory/supervisory authorities, insurance training centres and national and regional insurance associations. It currently stands at 365,351 of whom are from 47 African countries and 16 associate members from eight overseas countries.

What is its role to the communities it serves?
AIO works on various initiatives to, among others, strengthen a number of insurance pools to grow African insurance and reinsurance capacity across the continent. It has also worked to develop micro insurance.
The AIO hosts an annual conference and general assembly that creates a platform for members to share global experiences on insurance and re-insurance matters with the goal of furthering the development of the insurance industry. The conference is held on a rotational basis and Uganda is hosting it this year.

Considering this conference is attracting more than 800 participants from Africa, Europe, America and Asia, what key things should we expect from the conference? When is it running, and who is officiating?
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will officiate at the conference.
During the conference, deliberations will be made on positioning insurance as a growth driver of the economy and enhancing its role towards poverty alleviation. The conference will provide insights into how policy can be generated to support growth of the insurance industry especially now that sustainable financial inclusion is only possible with an effective risk management mechanism.

Looking at the current status of the insurance industry in Uganda, of what benefit is the conference to us as a host country?
The conference will provide us with a platform for the entire continent to discuss the industry challenges and opportunities for growth. We shall also discuss the core of strategising and agreeing of the plans to be done to provide services to Uganda and to African as a whole. The conference, therefore, is aimed at facilitating, sharing knowledge and learning the best practices in insurance. It therefore goes without saying that the meeting is timely and will enhance professionalism at the local as well as continental and international levels.
As the host, this conference will offer our market players an opportunity to learn from a wide range of insurers and reinsurances about the solutions and products they are providing to remain profitable. This will also offer our local participants an opportunity to appreciate the different nuances related to growing and sustaining equitable insurance business models and workable products/solutions as well as the various opportunities for business growth.

The insurance industry has been plagued with low rates of penetration. What strategies have you put in place to drive penetration as an industry?
To address the low penetration levels and pitiable perception amongst the public, the Authority and its key stakeholders have initiated aggressive consumer education and public awareness campaigns across the country. The campaigns are aimed at increasing public awareness on the need and benefits of insurance.
However, the less than 1 per cent penetration level is an indication that there are still huge investment opportunities in our industry. I am also seeing the industry regaining its rightful position in the future. Insurance is supposed to be ahead of banking as is in other developed economies.
The future is promising. With the creation of the oil and gas pool syndicate and getting ready for big infrastructural projects, the insurance industry is a good avenue to invest.
In addition, the proposed amendment of the regulatory frameworks – Insurance Act, Motor Third Party – and developing of the National Insurance Policy and the Financial Institutions Act for providing of banc assurance, we believe this is set to stir growth in the insurance industry in the coming years.

Technology is all over the place. As a sector, how are you harnessing technology in the development and distribution of insurance products to your clientele?
In the past few years, the advent of mobile money has brought a new dimension to Uganda’s insurance industry.
As most Ugandans have a mobile phone, buying insurance on a mobile phone is an exciting growth area as it will offer a more affordable way for Ugandans, especially in remote areas, to gain access to insurance products. Beyond the mobile phone, digitalisation as a key driver of business success and encourage players to integrate it into all dimensions of their business and processes.

Where do you see the industry in the next five years?
I am hoping that the public will be confident that insurance is the best risk mitigator, and that there will be no medium to big project that will be uninsured.
I am also hoping that we shall have micro-insurance policies which address the needs of the ordinary person and the contribution of life insurance segment will close to 50 per cent of the gross premium underwritten.