Insurance regulators across East Africa have agreed to align supervisory practices. The decisions were reached during meetings of the East African Insurance Supervisors Association (EAISA) in Nairobi, bringing together regulators from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The resolutions, detailed in an account published by Uganda’s insurance regulator, span a common assessment template, shared supervisory software, consumer-complaints standards and a joint sandbox framework for digital insurance.
Regulators Align on a Common Assessment Template
African insurance regulators have agreed on measures aimed at reducing regulatory fragmentation and strengthening oversight of an increasingly interconnected regional insurance market. The adoption of a harmonized Insurance Core Principles assessment template intended to provide regulators with a common basis for assessing supervisory standards, identifying regulatory gaps and promoting peer learning was among the key adoptions. EAISA Interim Chairman Dr. Protazio Sande who is also Acting Chief Executive Officer of Uganda’s Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), said the objective was to create greater consistency while allowing regulators to benchmark their respective markets.
«We have agreed to harmonize a template so that we can do assessment at country level, but also compare with our peers,» Dr. Sande said.
Kenya’s Regulator Frames Harmonization as a Compliance Simplifier
Kenya’s Commissioner of Insurance Mr. Godfrey Kiptum said closer alignment would also ease compliance for insurers operating across several East African markets.
«Having common regulations will make compliance easier for insurance companies operating across multiple EAC countries,» said Mr. Kiptum.
In a separate development, InsuraBeat has covered how Kenya’s regulator linked marine cargo cover to the customs clearance system.
Shared Software and Complaints Standards Target Data Gaps
The regulators also approved further development of the Regional Integrated Insurance Supervisory Software (RIISS) to improve information-sharing and technology-enabled supervision. They backed common minimum standards for complaints management, more comparable market data and a harmonized approach to digital transformation. The regulators’ published summary of the Nairobi resolutions is available on the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda’s website.
In a separate development, InsuraBeat has reported that Kenyan insurers grew premiums while claims and fraud cases both climbed.
Sandbox Framework Targets Cross-Border Digital Insurance Models
Significantly, EAISA also approved development of a harmonized EAC Insurance Sandbox Regulatory Framework designed to support responsible innovation and greater regulatory cooperation as digital insurance models expand across borders. Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Ms. Francesca Kakooza, IRA’s Director Legal, said the reforms are expected to support more consistent protection across jurisdictions, while insurers operating regionally could benefit from greater regulatory predictability.
In a separate development, InsuraBeat has covered warnings that most African disaster losses go uninsured.
IRA Officials Frame Nairobi as a Step Toward One Regional Market
IRA’s Senior Research Officer Mr. Marcos Erimu said the Nairobi resolutions ultimately point towards a broader ambition of an East African insurance market supervised through more coordinated, data-driven and technology-enabled regulatory systems, capable of responding to increasingly cross-border risks. Further detail is available in the Insurance Regulatory Authority’s account of the meetings.
