Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have called for measures to build confidence in the insurance sector to improve the low penetration rate in the sector.
Only 4% of MSMEs have business insurance, with 74% of this being compulsory cover, reported the newspaper Chronicle, citing official data.
In a bid to promote the uptake of insurance coverage by MSMEs, the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe and the Insurance and Pensions Commission are undertaking an educational programme, which targets business development officers from the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development who will them pass the information to MSMEs in different provinces and districts.
Bulawayo Chamber of SME programme coordinator, Mr Nketa Mangoye Dlamini, said that the programme would result in the development of more products that are suitable for MSMEs in terms of accessibility, affordability and flexibility.
“There are a number of MSMEs who are not insured, their money, their products, their stock, machinery and themselves are not insured be it pension or life assurance, so there is need to go on a campaign or information blitz so that SMEs are aware of the products that are available,” said Mr Dlamini.
He also said that insurers also need to rebuild the trust of individuals, whose pensions, savings, and insurance benefits were wiped out by a hyperinflation and currency crisis in 2009.