Plea to tap onto TZ insurance potential

THE prospects for Tanzania to reap huge benefits from insurance firms are high, given its exceptionally favourable regulatory system and economic diversity.

The remarks by sector stakeholders emerged in Dar es Salaam yesterday, during the on-going two-day African Digital Banking Summit held at Mlimani City Hall.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the summit, the stakeholders drawn from South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya and Nigeria said given the rapid pace at which Tanzania was moving on the economic front, insurance had the potential to be a strong foundation for wealth creation in different industries.

This was what at heart insurance was. A Corporate and assurance Manager of Old Matual Insurance Company in Southern and East Africa, Mr Mohau Molefe, said that there Tanzania hosted strong Small and Medium Sized (SMEs).

Officiating at the summit, the Director – Licensing and Market Conduct Supervision of Tanzania Regulatory Authority (TIRA), Mr Elia Kajiba, said that the regulators’ focus was to ensure that as many people as possible understood how insurance could make their future lives better.

“Our main role is to register insurance companies in the country but we have a role to ensure people understand how insurance can benefit them,” he said, expressing the need for Tanzanians to use insurances that can help them during calamities and other problems.

Mr Kajiba said it was advisable for every individual to have an insurance cover. He said the summit was one of the main platforms that TIRA sought to use effectively to educate, listen and attend to complaints from wananchi and other stakeholders. Meanwhile, Mr Kajiba called on the public to refrain from registering with fake insurance companies that were not registered through TIRA.

He stressed that the Insurance Act required all insurance companies to be registered before becoming operational. He pointed out that those who violated the procedures and were spotted risked a two-year prison sentence or a fine exceeding over five million shillings.

The Chairman of the Summit, Mr Baraka Mtavanga, said the two-day Summit had brought together stakeholders, to discuss and deliberate on opportunities for the sector.