Several players in the insurance ecosystem are working on improving the regulation of microinsurance in the CIMA (Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets) zone to establish a more favourable framework conducive to the development of an inclusive insurance market.
To this end, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Senegal’s Insurance Directorate of the Ministry of Finance and Budget co-organised a two-day workshop on 9-10 September in Dakar through the former’s Insurance and Risk Financing Facility (IRFF). The workshop was attended by representatives of CIMA insurance authorities, insurance and reinsurance companies, microfinance institutions, InsurTech start-ups, insurance cooperatives and associations, and civil society organisations.
Workshop participants analysed the current microinsurance regulatory framework and shared best practices. The objective of the workshop was to mobilise stakeholders, identify current obstacles to the development of microinsurance and formulate concrete recommendations for more inclusive regulations.
In French-speaking Africa, the CIMA zone established a regulatory framework for microinsurance in 2012. However, more than a decade later, many challenges remain: unclear definition of microinsurance, slowness in issuing approvals, complexity of administrative requirements, falling short of community realities, low penetration of products, lack of product innovation and failure to adapt local specificities, reported the Senegalese Press Agency.
The regulatory reform work stemmed from a request to enable traditional insurers to obtain approval of microinsurance licences more easily, and offer products across multiple lines of insurance. There is also a need to simplify CIMA regulations for the approval of microinsurance products and facilitate the collection of premiums.