With less than two years to mark the 10th anniversary of bancassurance in Uganda, industry participants are working to pick up the pace of sales through the channel.
The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) says that banks in the country will increase the number of branches that are engaged in bancassurance by 161 by 2026, reported the independent daily newspaper, Daily Monitor.
At the inaugural Bancassurance Thought Leaders Forum held in Kampala last weekend, IRA CEO Mr Ibrahim Lubega Kaddunabbi, said, “Currently, there are 401 bank branches providing bancassurance. This number will grow to 562 by 2026.”
In 2023, gross written premiums generated through bancassurance reached UGX179.5bn ($48m) in 2023, rising from UGX83.3bn in 2020.
Bancassurance made its debut in Uganda in 2016 following amendments to the Financial Institutions Act.
Ms Martha Aheebwa, the chairperson of the bancassurance technical committee of the Uganda Bankers Association, also speaking at the forum, said that at present, 19 banks are licensed as bancassurance agents. They generate nearly 10% of the gross written premiums in the insurance industry.
Ms Aheebwa urged bancassurance players to be more innovative to avoid stagnation. She said, “At the 10th anniversary of bancassurance, we are very keen to avoid stagnating because we are looking at this as something that will propel our industry and hopefully help us breach the 1% (insurance) penetration.”
Insurance penetration in Uganda remains at 0.8% at present.
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