The availability of data is important to support the insurance sector while the lack of data poses a major challenge that affects risk assessment and determining insurance prices, according to Dr Mohamed Farid, chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA).
In particular, the lack of data is the biggest reason for the slow take-up of agricultural insurance in Egypt, he said.
Speaking at the Cairo ICT Conference 2024 which started on 17 November, he pointed out the need for weather data, such as temperature, to help determine the appropriate crops to grow for each region, and for agricultural insurance pricing.
Separately, at the same conference, Mr Alaa El-Zoheiry, chairman of the Insurance Federation of Egypt, revealed the details of a cooperation protocol with FinTech company E-Finance Group. He said that the protocol is specific to agricultural insurance and the goal is to promote crop insurance. E-Finance will facilitate data access and price setting. He added that the insurance sector, the FRA and E-Finance are studying how to reach the largest number of clients, especially in microinsurance.
Dr Farid also outlined the FRA’s initiatives to establish a clear and comprehensive regulatory and legislative framework aimed at digitising non-banking financial transactions. These efforts align with Egypt’s Vision 2030, which seeks to build a knowledge-based digital economy and enhance citizens’ access to non-banking financial services more efficiently.