{The Prime Minister, Anastase Murekezi has advised insurance companies in Africa to be more innovative to meet clients’ needs and support development programs in their respective countries. }
He gave the advice yesterday as he officially opened the 36th summit of insurance companies in Africa.
Statistics from the National Bank of Rwanda in 2014 indicated that insurance contributed 1.5% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Murekezi has requested insurance companies to address challenges causing poor performance of the sector.
The 2016 research by Finscope in Rwanda indicates that only 9% of adults use insurance covers.
Minister Murekezi has said that economic development must go with growth in insurance subscription to safeguard against risks and losses which, in turn, retard progress.
“Africans need insurance support in case of illness, natural disasters, accidents and losses,” he added.
A high insurance premium is one of the major causes attributed to Rwandans’ failure to subscribe with insurance companies. This is partly caused by lack of diversity in insurance companies.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN), Ambassador Gatete Claver has said that it is time to mobilize citizens to join insurance companies since the adoption would help banks to get long term financing and provide loans at low interest rate.
“Rwandans need to be mobilized to be insured and put shares of insurance companies on the capital market so that the money obtained from these activities can be used in other areas since the money needs to be kept for long,” he said.
The executive secretary of the association of insurance companies, Jean Pierre Majoro says that Rwanda has 13 insurance companies and the performance is still poor. “There is a need of collaborating between government, clients and insurance service providers to accelerate economic progress,” he said.
Mutuelle de santé in Rwanda is the most subscribed to medical insurance scheme at 81.9% of the total population.
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