Insurers discuss dev’t financing

Five Hundred African insurers have converged in Kigali to discuss business opportunities in the sector and the future of insurance firms.The three-day meeting under the theme: The insurance and financing in the FANAF countries, has attracted participants from 43 countries.The meeting, organised under the auspices of the Federation of African National Insurance Companies (FANAF) and the Rwandan Association of Insurers (ASSAR), was opened by Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi. Addressing the conference, Habumuremyi, said the 36th Annual General Assembly’s theme bodes well with his government’s development strategy, particularly Vision 2020.“A strong financial sector, including insurance, is a crucial factor for development and hope the recent legal and institutional reform will contribute to the growth of the sector,” said the PM.Habumuremyi acknowledged the challenge of capacity within the sector and promised government support to address it.He urged the Finance ministry, National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), insurers and other stakeholders to work more closely to produce a concrete proposal to get better support from government. The Chairman of FANAF, Protais Ayangma Amang, said the meeting will help to know more about the contributions of the insurance sector to their respective economies.The National Bank of Rwanda, which has been the regulator over the last three years, agreed to separate the life and general insurance businesses to help develop both divisions separately.BNR Governor, Amb. Claver Gatete, said the industry still faces lack of qualified personnel, regulation and supervision. “There is a challenge of capacity in the technical, managerial and board level and this hinders the way we do business,” he said.The bank says the insurance sector is growing as envisaged, but noted that insurance penetration (at 2.3 percent) remains far below the average of 10 percent for middle income economies.The country’s insurance sector rose by 12.1 percent reaching Rwf 143.7 billion by the end of last year, up from Rwf128 billion as of December 2010. “Gross premium increased as well as net profit. The growth is attributed to the boom in the Rwandan economy,” Gatete stated recently while presenting a monetary policy statement.Sory I. Diomande, a participant from Togo, said the sector, across the continent, is faced with skills gap with regard to insurance products.“Many people think its money lost because they are not sufficiently knowledgeable about the benefits; that’s why most just go for mandatory insurance (motor),” he said.