Less than 8% of farmers are insured in Tunisia, according to Tunisian Federation of Insurance Companies (FTUSA) president Hassène Feki.
In a statement to the media on the sidelines of the 27th African Reinsurance Forum, Mr Feki said that one reason for this is that farmers are only insured against hail on crops, reported La Presse de Tunisie.
“Unfortunately, this type of insurance requires support from public authorities because today, insurance against hail is not compulsory.”
To promote agricultural insurance, several measures can be put in place such as state subsidies for premiums and the creation of a fund dedicated to natural disasters to support agriculture, he said.
Mr Feki said that although fire insurance is compulsory for businesses, only 20% of companies are insured against this risk.
Commenting on the life insurance market, he said that the share of life insurance in the overall insurance market is around 25%.
“This rate, which has increased thanks to bancassurance, was around 10% a few years ago; however, the room for improvement is still very significant,” he said.
Regarding export insurance, Mr Feki said that this branch is still weak and represents only a few million dinars. Only three insurers offer this insurance which should be more developed to encourage trade between Tunisia and the rest of Africa, he said.
He said, “We should build databases containing information on the solvency of companies. This would be a sort of credit rating system which can make it possible to evaluate very quickly a project or a company. With a very large database, it will be possible to price better and offer more adapted and attractive offers to businesses.” M