The president of the Senegalese Federation of Insurance Companies (FSSA) has called for more appropriate regulations, tax exemption for life insurance products, the expansion of bancassurance and microinsurance and intensified financial inclusion efforts. The objective is to foster the development of the insurance market, particularly life insurance.
Ms Oumou Niang Touré, speaking at the opening on 8 May 2025 of the inaugural Life Insurance Fair organised by the FSSA, also made several other recommendations to the government such as promoting synergies between institutions and increasing the types of mandatory insurance policies, reported the newspaper L’Quotidien.
She said, “The role that life insurance can play in economic development will depend on the actions taken by the supervisory authorities – in particular, CIMA, the Insurance Directorate – to upgrade the sector, strengthen it, and energise it."
In her view, innovation and digitalisation also constitute essential levers to overcome these obstacles and promote access to financial protection mechanisms on a large scale.
At present, there are 27 companies in the Senegalese insurance market, including nine life insurers. In 2024, the sector's overall turnover amounted to FCFA291bn ($499m), an increase of 7% compared to 2023. Benefits paid reached FCFA133bn in 2024, 11% higher compared to FCFA119bn in 2023.
Challenges
Despite the number of insurers, Ms Touré indicated that the contribution of insurance to GDP remains low: 1.45%, of which 0.53% is attributed to life insurance. The average premium per capita, an indicator of the penetration rate, is FCFA15,467 ($26.53), far from international standards.
Ms Touré said that challenges that the insurance sector faces include the weak insurance culture among the population, the lack of suitable products, uncontrolled pricing, restrictive taxation, a low rate of banking, and a still limited distribution network. Other obstacles are the low level of the development of bancassurance and products poorly adapted to the local context.