HARARE, The Insurance Council of Zimbabwe (ICZ), an association of short-term insurers, says the industry is exploring new business lines through inclusive insurance and targeting the informal sector.
Currently, motor and fire insurance continue to dominate short-term insurance industry revenue in both local currency and US dollar terms.
ICZ chief executive Donald Muthe, in an interview, said motor class insurance is the biggest because of the number of cars that are coming into Zimbabwe.
“We have an estimated 1.5 million vehicles coming into the country, resulting in motor insurance being the biggest line of business for short-term insurance.
“The fire class of insurance is also big, but what we are driving now is inclusive insurance under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1),” he said.
He said the sector is bringing in areas that were not insured before, like the smallholder farmers, which will result in the growth of the sector.
Muthe said the Farmers Basket’s agricultural insurance product, which aims to protect smallholder farmers against climate change-induced risks, has been upscaled to the country’s eight rural provinces for the 2024/25 agricultural season.
He said more than 20,411 smallholder households have been onboarded for the 2024/2025 agricultural season, and this will go a long way in growing the sector’s line of businesses.
“The other area of concentration is going to be the informal sector. The government is already making efforts to formalise that sector, and going forward, spaces like the informal sector and smallholder farmers will form a big part of the insurance industry,” he said.
ICZ recently introduced an emergency call centre (591) which is aimed at expediting response to emergencies and at the same time ensuring insurance mobilisation.
Muthe said these are parts of efforts to strengthen and continually improve the non-life insurance service provision.
“We aim to build trust and confidence in the public through offering insurance services that show commitment.
“The call centre and help desk for free use by the public to assess emergency assistance and access to insurance services and information will also provide much-needed assistance in assessing insurance compensation,” he said.
According to the Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) third quarter 2024 report, direct short-term insurers reported consolidated insurance revenue amounting to ZiG 2.53 billion and US$153.97 million in terms of foreign currency business.
During the reporting period, the primary drivers of insurance revenue were the motor, fire, and farming classes of business, collectively contributing 71 per cent.
Original Article: https://insurance24.co.zw/short-term-insurers-to-drive-inclusive-insurance-targeting-informal-sector-icz/
