By Jimmy Kariuki
Kenyan insurance sector targets to reduce its reliance on general insurance premiums to as low as 50 per cent by the year 2020.
According to Associations of Kenyan Insurers (AKI) Executive Director Mr. Tom Gichuhi, the global trend in the developed world, life insurance takes the bigger portion of insurance business compared to general insurance, which is where medical and motor insurance fall.
“As a developing market, our understanding and appreciation of insurance differs with that of the more developed countries. As has been said in other platforms, Kenyans generally have a poor savings culture which is what life insurance can be categorized as, planning ahead by saving now,” said Mr. Gichuhi.
The Associations Director however remains optimistic that the sector will continue to stabilize terming what happened at the NSE, where another insurer was removed from the list of 20 best performing counters as a one of.
“The NSE 20-Share Index is measured based on trading activity, market capitalization, shares traded, liquidity and turnover. CIC Insurance Group reported a dip in its profits largely due to the devaluation of the South Sudan Pound where it operates a subsidiary and the company’s adoption of the Risk Based supervision model where it increased its reserves.
We believe this to be a one off and an isolated case which is likely to change in time. The business foundation is solid which means it can rebound back to the top 20 most traded counters in the very near future,“ he said.
Coming at the wake of increased cyber security Mr. Gichuhi also urged insurance firms to use of technology to make their internal systems more efficient, to better serve consumers, raising public awareness on what insurance is and the role it plays in people’s lives and an improvement in underwriting standards are some of the ways the industry can easily be strengthened.
