Africa continues to offer significant potential for future investment. It is progressively gearing itself towards a brighter future and also a growing insurance industry which helps in the country’s economic growth. Statistics as per Global Standards state that Africa has exhibited growth in life premiums of 12.8% and non- life premium of 2.1% in 2013. Yet, the insurance industry is going through a substantial structural change; with an increase in regulation, technological advances and a rising customer expectations, are all placing pressures on the current operations. It has been clear to insurers that in order to survive in the market, they will have to focus on new ways of doing business to maintain personal touch with their new clients as well as competing with new players who are now converging the market.
History shows that insurance companies focused mainly on South Africa as it is the continent’s most mature financial market. It’s life Insurance premiums have been accounted to 88% of total life premiums across the continent in 2013. However, since 2010, the Sub Saharan countries have been ranked among the world’s fastest growing economies. Report from World Bank predicted a regional GDP growth of 4.6% and this continued to increase to 5.1% in 2017. According to World Bank, Nigeria is now considered as the continent’s largest economy, ahead of South Africa. Ghana and Zambia have also moved into the middle- income status. Hence, these shifts suggest greater potential for insurance sales across Africa. However,74% of the insurance companies in Africa believe that some part of their business is at risk.
Technological advances have been one of the major drivers influencing the insurance industry. Insurance incumbents who are currently focusing on catching up with their competitors around customer centric are missing the opportunity to become more proactive. New strategies need to be adopted to focus on customers, their changing behaviors and new needs. These incumbents need to create a clear and consistent message which will show their willingness to play in this new insurtech space and hence act accordingly. Insurtech being a fintech sub- segment is here to reshape the insurance industry by applying innovation and creativity to break into a massively underserviced and growing market. This approach will help position the companies to be in front-runners in this new insurance era.
The growth of Fintech Diversity, change in customer behaviors and also more sophisticated technologies are influencing the insurance sector. The Fintech industry has become a critical part in today’s business infrastructure and thus, helping insurance companies to become more customer-centric in order to align to the changing customer needs and expectations. Inevitably, this will help in developing a strong correlation between customer’s experience and the level of trust the customers have for the insurance companies.
Collaborating with NanoBNK
Digital solutions offer ways for insurers to reimagine and engage with their customers. To capture this opportunity, NanoBNK partners with insurance providers to fine- tune their platforms and enhance the efficiency of their back office operations
