Policy Seminar - Consultative Forum on Microinsurance Regulation for Insurance Supervisory Authorities & Insurance Practitioners
The 4th Consultative Forum brought together 60 participants, representing regulatory authorities and insurance industry participants from 24 countries from the Sub-Sahara Africa and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.
Through two interactive plenary sessions participants deliberated on ‘What are the essential elements of an enabling regulatory framework which fosters inclusive insurance markets?’ and ‘How to develop an enabling regulatory framework for inclusive insurance?’.
The discussions identified that the regulatory framework for inclusive/microinsurance needs to be proportionate, i.e. while regulation is important to ensure consumer protection through offering effective and valuable products and services to low income populations, they should not burden the industry with undue costs and must allow for innovations that reduce costs and offer better value. The discussions also highlighted the need to strike the right balance, through consultations between the industry and the regulators, to develop regulations that encourage the insurance industry to offer inclusive insurance solutions.
Exploring further the expectations that regulators have of industry in the region, and vice versa, two key points of consensus emerged. There was unanimous agreement that regulators and the industry need to work together for better client awareness and education. This was identified as a prerequisite if insurance penetration levels are to improve in the Africa and MENA regions. There was also strong consensus that the use of technology will enable the industry to offer better services at lower costs. The regulators were of the opinion that as long as clients’ interests are well-served and protected, they are very willing to support the embracing of technology by the industry at each step of the insurance value chain.
The need for market development was also identified in these discussions, with the industry suggesting that they would like regulators to take steps to assist them in getting more information and insights from more developed microinsurance markets, while the regulators encouraged the industry players to be more involved in market research and diagnostic studies aimed at gathering actionable knowledge for the industry.
In addition to the above, Insurance Supervisors and Insurers agreed on the importance of improving client value and satisfactory claims handling as a means of improving the public image of insurance and building trust by the public, the need for improved literacy so that clients can appreciate the value of insurance products offered and introduction of insurance products that meet the real needs of low income households, especially those in the rural areas who have thusfar been significantly unserved.
The next Consultative Forum will take place in November this year in Casablanca, Morocco on the side lines of the 11th International Microinsurance Conference.
