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In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, insurance should be a primary mechanism for many people across the world to cope. Instead, the limited penetration of insurance products in developing countries has pushed insurance to the periphery. However, all is not lost. Insurers still have a key role to play in getting societies back to work through the support of enterprises and, in doing so, building consumer confidence in the insurance sector more widely.

South Africa’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic started much later compared to the rest of the world with its first case only reported on 5 March 2020.  The Government immediately responded with swift and decisive action by declaring a National State of Disaster and placing the country in total lockdown.

During the month of April, the A2ii saw the launch of the exceptional A2ii-IAIS Consultation Calls webinar series on Covid-19 and its implications for supervisors.  In times of crisis, where there is a continuous flow of new information and rapidly evolving developments, the webinars have proved to be a purposeful platform for supervisors to exchange information and share best practice. 

The fight against the global pandemic has imposed new dynamics for how we live, work and interact with our friends and family. We do not know what our lives will look like in the months to come, but many people will likely fall into poverty, and many businesses will not manage to bounce back. The most severely affected are vulnerable populations who face a higher personal economic risk due to a lack of savings or alternative coping strategies.

In light of the ongoing Covid-19 situation, regulators worldwide have been forced to respond quickly in terms of prudential and consumer protection measures, as well as operational relief. To date, prudential measures have been observed to be stronger in the banking sector. The scale of impact on the solvency positions of the insurance sector is still unfolding, and so most insurance supervisors  are currently  closely monitoring insurance assets and liabilities, investment portfolios and liquidity, all the while maintaining constant engagement with insurers.