Dearth of skilled agents hurting Kenya’s insurance sector

@ABFortune

Stakeholders in the insurance industry have been urged to hold on to qualified sales agents if they are to grow the sector.

Lack of skilled agents capable of inspiring public confidence has been blamed for low insurance penetration.

Available statistics show that Kenyan insurance market’s growth has largely been driven by non-life business compared to other developed markets like South Africa and Ghana, with the segment contributing just two thirds of the total premium. Life premiums make up for just a third against the global average rate life business at 54.8 percent and 45.2 per cent of non-life business.

According to figures from Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), the industry paid out Sh. 49 billion in claims and gross premiums amounted to Sh. 174 billion last year, a growth of 10.4 per cent from Sh. 158 billion reported in 2014.

Despite this good performance, insurance penetration stood at only 2.8 per cent of GDP in 2015, way below the worldwide average of 6.5 per cent of GDP and the 5.0 per cent envisioned in the Vision 2030 National Development plan.

Speaking at a reception to mark the rebranding of Pan Africa Insurance Holdings (PAIHL) to Sanlam Kenya Plc, National Treasury CS Henry Rotich urged industry players to curb the poor image associated with insurance sales and service delivery.

“Challenges including low-income, irregular earning patterns, costs of insurance premiums and general apathy towards insurance as a service and product, lack of agents and marketers with specialized and sophisticated skills in insurance products continue to be a cause for alarm.

The challenge is on all of us, including Sanlam Kenya, to look into ways of working closely with other stakeholders to address these issues to enable more Kenyans not only appreciate but also access insurance services,” said Rotich.

Rotich said the poor image associated with the industry had contributed to lack of confidence and trust by policy holders and the general public.

“Given our bilateral relations with the Republic of South Africa, we welcome further support in raising the profile and skills capacity for our insurance service sector,” he said.