Insurance brokerages key in insurance penetration—RBM
The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) says insurance brockerage firms are key to increasing Malawi’s underinsured population as they sell insurance to the masses and help insurance companies come up with products and services that are need based.
Recent figures from RBM show that the number of people on insurance in Malawi is at 240 000 against a population of 17 million, with a penetration rate at a paltry 1.4 percent.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Minet Malawi launch in Blantyre on Tuesday, RBM’s director of insurance and pension supervision Chimwemwe Kachingwe said brokers have a vital role to play if insurance penetration is to increase in the country.
“The brokers are the ones that know the need of the clients and they are better suited in identifying the insurance needs of the masses out there and how they can be helped to get insurance that is tailored to their needs. There is a lot that we need to do as a country to increase insurance penetration. As a bank we are doing our part and looking at micro insurance products, if we design a package product that are according to the needs of the people in rural areas then we should be able to increase penetration,” she said.
According to her, the uptake of health insurance is also very low, but then it concerns everybody as all human beings get sick.
In his key note address at the 2017 Insurance Institute of Malawi (IIM) annual lakeshore conference in Mangochi, RBM governor Dalisto Kabambe described the insurance industry in Malawi as a child who is not growing, but is growing grey hair.
“As I look at the insurance industry today, its penetration rate at 1.4 percent after 53 years of independence shows that our industry is yet to grow,” he said.
Insurance brokers serve as intermediaries between insurance buyers and insurance companies.
