Data scarcity is a central constraint for Africa's insurance market development, according to the Africa Insurance Pulse 2026 , an annual flagship publication released by the African Insurance Organisation (AIO).
For instance, non-life penetration, which indicates how extensively insurance is used to transfer risk within an economy, remains well below global benchmarks across the continent: even South Africa, the most advanced market, records only 2.3% of GDP versus a 4% global average, while lower-income markets lack the data systems needed to expand risk protection and attract investment.
Without credible, granular data, actuarial modelling becomes uncertain, technical pricing requires high safety margins, and reinsurance costs rise, making protection either unavailable or unaffordable for the populations that need it most. The research demonstrates that this problem is solvable.
Mobile money
A critical and under-appreciated dimension of this challenge is the role of mobile money. Across low-income African countries, mobile financial ecosystems have achieved penetration rates that far outstrip traditional banking, in several markets reaching close to half the adult population.
This digital infrastructure has quietly created a data asset of enormous potential for insurance markets. Insurance growth in Africa depends on integrating into these mobile-led ecosystems rather than waiting for conventional banking models to mature. Where this integration has occurred, previously uninsurable populations have been reached at scale, demonstrating that the protection gap is, in substantial part, a data infrastructure gap.
The research also examined the broader economic stakes. Insurance mobilises capital and reduces fiscal risk, but only where data integrity supports confidence in underwriting, solvency reporting, and claims management. Where data ecosystems are weak, perceived systemic risk rises, capital costs increase, and the investment role of insurers in supporting infrastructure, agriculture, and micro, small, and medium enterprises growth is suppressed.
Mr Jean Baptiste Ntukamazina, AIO Secretary General, said, "Without better data systems, shared standards and the analytical capacity to translate information into insight, insurers cannot price risk accurately, reach the underserved or expand their business model. Closing this gap is both an institutional and technical task, requiring investment, governance and genuine collaboration among public and private sectors. The stakes extend well beyond the industry itself: data-driven insurance is part of the economic infrastructure that improves resilience and enables inclusive growth."
High-quality insurance data: Critical to survey respondents' strategy
The findings of the Africa Insurance Pulse 2026 are based on a structured survey with insurers, reinsurers and brokers operating in Africa, conducted from March to April 2026. The results are notable for their unanimity, says the AIO in a statement. Every organisation rated high-quality insurance data as critical to their strategy, citing operational necessity, governance requirements, and competitive advantage.
Yet the same organisations describe a market defined by data deficit: insufficient granularity, processing delays, systematic inaccuracy, and non-standardised definitions are routine conditions, cascading through pricing, reserving, and risk assessment. The gap between what the industry needs and what it has is, by its own account, vast. Organisations depend mainly on their own proprietary data and on public regulatory sources for external comparisons, while access to and adoption of alternative and third-party data, which could significantly improve risk insights, remains limited.
The consequences for market development are measurable and mutually reinforcing. For insurance markets, mispricing was the most cited impact, followed by reduced underwriting appetite, difficult access to reinsurance and capital markets, and progressively restrictive terms. For reinsurance markets specifically, data gaps force higher rates, tighter conditions, and elevated attachment points, effectively pricing African insurers out of efficient risk-transfer solutions.
African Insurance Organisation
Founded in 1972 in Mauritius, the AIO aims to develop a healthy insurance and reinsurance industry in Africa and promote inter-African co-operation in the insurance sector. The AIO is a truly African institution with 421 corporate and institutional members from 47 African countries and 13 non-African countries (as of June 2025).