INSURANCE MUST REACH MORE ZAMBIANS

Government challenges industry to take affordable insurance to farmers, informal workers and small businesses as uptake rises from 6.3% to 10.4%

By Francis Maingaila ♥️

Lusaka, Zambia24 — 21 September 2026 — Government has challenged the insurance industry to move beyond its traditional customer base and take affordable, relevant and easy-to-understand insurance products to millions of Zambians who remain outside formal insurance protection.

Permanent Secretary for Economic Management and Finance Mulele Mulele said the rise in insurance uptake from 6.3 percent in 2020 to 10.4 percent in 2025 was encouraging, but also showed that a large part of the population remained without adequate insurance protection.

Mr Mulele said the figures should therefore not only be viewed as evidence of growth in the sector, but also as a reminder that the industry still had a large population to reach, particularly people whose livelihoods depended on small-scale farming, informal businesses and daily earnings.

He said financial inclusion should not end with people having access to bank accounts or mobile wallets, but should also enable them to protect what they earn, own and build.

Mr Mulele said a person could have a bank account or mobile wallet and still remain financially vulnerable if illness, fire, floods, accidents, theft or other unexpected events destroyed their source of income or property.

He said insurance was particularly important as Zambia expanded investment in agriculture, businesses and other productive sectors because people needed protection against risks that could wipe out their investments.

“The next phase must therefore be about reaching those who are excluded, particularly low-income households, informal sector workers, rural farmers, rural communities as well as micro, small and medium enterprises,” Mr Mulele said.

He said the challenge was not simply to put insurance products on the market, but to make sure ordinary people could afford them, understand what they covered and see their relevance to their daily lives.

Mr Mulele said insurance products targeting these groups must therefore be available, affordable, relevant and simple to understand.

He was speaking during the official opening of the 2026 National Insurance Week, where he said financial education should go hand in hand with the expansion of insurance services.

Mr Mulele said many people needed greater knowledge and confidence to understand insurance products, assess their options and make financial decisions suited to their circumstances.

He said some potential customers might remain outside the insurance market because they did not fully understand how policies worked, what they covered, what exclusions applied or what they needed to do when making a claim.

Mr Mulele said the industry therefore had a responsibility to explain insurance in language that ordinary people could understand rather than relying on technical terms that could discourage potential customers.

He said digital technology, mobile platforms and alternative distribution channels could help the industry reduce the cost of reaching customers and extend services to communities that had previously been underserved.

Mr Mulele said mobile technology could make it easier for people in remote areas and those working in the informal sector to access information, buy appropriate products and communicate with insurers without having to travel long distances.

He challenged insurers to develop products that reflected the different realities of Zambians rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.

“A farmer whose income comes after harvesting has different needs from a salaried employee. The market trader has different circumstances from a large corporation, while a young entrepreneur starting a business has different risks from an established company,” he said.

Mr Mulele said the differences in income patterns and risks meant that insurance products needed to take into account how people actually earned their livelihoods.

He said the expansion of agriculture would require farmers to increasingly consider crop, livestock and weather-related insurance to protect their investments.

Mr Mulele said farmers often invested significant resources in seed, fertiliser, equipment, livestock and labour before receiving any income from their activities.

He said appropriate insurance could help protect such investments against risks that could otherwise leave farmers and their families struggling to recover after a major loss.

He said insurance companies should also be viewed beyond their role as providers of risk protection because they were institutional investors and mobilisers of long-term savings.

Mr Mulele said the sector could therefore contribute to economic development not only by paying claims after losses, but also by mobilising funds that could support long-term investment.

As Zambia’s economy expands, Mr Mulele said the insurance industry, working alongside pension funds and capital markets, should play a greater role in mobilising domestic resources for investment in agriculture, housing, energy, manufacturing and other job-creating sectors.

He said a stronger insurance industry could help create greater confidence among businesses and investors because risks could be managed rather than left entirely on individual households and companies.

Mr Mulele said this was particularly important for businesses that needed to protect property, equipment, employees and other investments while expanding their operations.

He said innovation, however, must go hand in hand with consumer protection.

Mr Mulele urged insurers to treat claims and complaints seriously and ensure that they were handled promptly, fairly and transparently to maintain public confidence in the sector.

He said public confidence could easily be damaged when customers paid premiums for years but felt abandoned or poorly treated when they eventually suffered losses.

Mr Mulele said strengthening insurance was therefore a shared responsibility involving Government, regulators, the industry and citizens.

“Government must continue creating an enabling environment, regulators must protect policyholders while allowing responsible innovation, the industry must develop appropriate products, educate consumers and honour its commitments, and citizens must take responsibility for understanding and managing their financial affairs,” he said.

Mr Mulele said financial education and consumer protection should not only be discussed during National Insurance Week, but should become part of sustained national efforts to improve the financial wellbeing of Zambians.

He said insurance education needed to reach communities, workplaces, farms, markets and small businesses so that people could make informed decisions before disaster occurred.

Mr Mulele said the ultimate goal should be a Zambia where insurance was no longer viewed as a luxury or an afterthought, but as an ordinary part of household financial planning, business development, investment and national economic resilience.

He said this would allow farmers to plant with greater confidence, entrepreneurs to invest with greater confidence and investors to commit resources to Zambia with greater confidence.

Mr Mulele said insurance should ultimately become part of the way households and businesses plan for the future rather than something people only think about after suffering a loss.

He officially declared the 2026 National Insurance Week open on behalf of Government.

The insurance industry has been challenged to move beyond simply creating awareness about insurance and ensure that consumers understand its value, benefits and role in protecting families, businesses and livelihoods.

Pensions and Insurance Authority representative Brian Manchishi said awareness alone was not enough to increase insurance uptake, arguing that members of the public needed practical knowledge about insurance and confidence that insurers would stand with them when disaster struck.

Speaking at the launch of Insurance Week, Mr Manchishi said the changing risk environment, rapid technological developments and better-informed consumers required the insurance industry to become more responsive to the needs of policyholders.

He said the theme, “Insurance: Facing the Future with Confidence,” should challenge the industry to demonstrate that confidence through the way it served policyholders, particularly when they experienced loss.

“Confidence does not happen by chance. It is built through greater public awareness, clear and transparent communication,” Mr Manchishi said.

He said the responsibility of building confidence extended beyond advertising insurance products and encouraging people to buy policies.

Mr Manchishi said customers needed to see that the industry could be trusted to provide clear information, respond to their concerns and honour legitimate claims when they suffered losses.

He said the industry should ask itself whether it was genuinely present for clients when they needed insurance most, citing situations where homes, businesses or other property were destroyed by fire and families lost breadwinners.

Mr Manchishi said such situations could leave families facing financial difficulties at a time when they were already dealing with the emotional impact of losing property or a source of income.

He said insurers needed to communicate honestly and compassionately with clients, including explaining clearly when claims could not be paid and why.

“Are we there? Are we giving them confidence that we are going to deliver? It starts with us,” he said.

Mr Manchishi said transparent communication was important even where an insurer could not meet a claim because of policy conditions, as customers deserved to understand the reasons for such decisions.

He said insurance had an important role to play in supporting Government's Grow Zambia agenda, particularly as the country sought to expand productive capacity in agriculture, mining, energy, manufacturing and tourism.

Mr Manchishi said these sectors involved significant investments and faced different risks, making insurance an important part of protecting economic activity.

He said a resilient insurance sector could provide the financial protection needed to support investment and economic activity across these sectors.

Mr Manchishi also disclosed that the insurance industry recorded a 2.9 percent increase in gross written premiums in the second quarter, compared with the corresponding period the previous year.

He said the growth represented a moderation but nevertheless demonstrated that more people were beginning to view insurance as a solution to financial risks.

Mr Manchishi said continued growth in premiums would require the industry to deepen its reach and ensure that new customers understood the products they were buying.

He further said policyholder benefits and claims expenses had increased from about K1.5 billion to K1.8 billion, largely due to higher claims paid in the long-term insurance business between January and June.

He said the increase in claims payments demonstrated that the industry was growing while meeting its obligations to policyholders.

Mr Manchishi said claims remained one of the most important points at which customers judged the value of their insurance policies because this was when they expected the protection they had paid for to become meaningful.

Meanwhile, Bankers Association of Zambia President Phidelia Mwaba said insurance remained critical to the sustainability of businesses and the financial security of individuals and families.

Ms Mwaba said insurance provided protection when misfortune struck while also supporting long-term personal plans, including retirement, medical and health needs.

She said businesses also needed insurance to protect their assets and manage risks that could otherwise interrupt their operations or threaten their survival.

Ms Mwaba called on insurance professionals to actively participate in Insurance Week activities and use the campaign to reach more people with information on the value of insurance.

She said the campaign should provide an opportunity for the industry to engage directly with communities and explain how insurance could help families and businesses prepare for risks rather than simply respond to losses after they occurred.

Ms Mwaba said greater public understanding of insurance was necessary if the sector was to increase its contribution to the country's economy.

She said insurance brokers played an important role in helping clients identify appropriate insurance products, determine risks requiring assessment and facilitate claims when losses occurred.

“Insurance brokers are a key partner in this risk transfer mechanism as they guide the customer on the relevant products to procure,” Ms Mwaba said.

She said brokers could help bridge the gap between customers and insurance companies by helping clients understand their risks and identify products that matched their circumstances.

Ms Mwaba said insurance should not only be viewed as a business opportunity for intermediaries but as a wider public service requiring continuous sensitisation by insurers, regulators and other stakeholders.

She said the industry needed sustained engagement with the public because understanding insurance could not be achieved through a once-a-year campaign alone.

Ms Mwaba also reminded the industry that not every insurance policy results in a claim, with some good risks going for years without experiencing losses.

She said the absence of a claim did not mean that insurance had no value, because the policy continued to provide protection against potential risks during the period of cover.

Ms Mwaba described Insurance Week as both an awareness campaign and a celebration of the role insurance plays in protecting people and businesses.

She said the campaign should help bring the conversation about insurance closer to ordinary Zambians, including people running small businesses, working in informal employment and farming for their livelihoods.

The campaign is expected to focus on taking the insurance message beyond awareness and towards practical knowledge, greater public confidence and increased uptake of insurance products.