20/09/2025
LIFE ASSURANCE EXPERIENCE .
Looking on the global insurance trends, as per reliable sources the East African insurance market is still demanding us especially in Tanzania, where market pe*******on in Kenya is about 1% in life assurance and general insurance is below 2% when combined is about3% only.
For Tanzania and Uganda combined their market pe*******on is below 2% where by life assurance is below 1%. This contributed by different factors which are within our control and others being uncontrollable (out of our control)
The products offered by many insurance companies in Tanzania i.e. GLA & GCL are not bad, they do well for their size but when you take into consideration PROFIT Vs SCALE you'll find the INDIVIDUALS LIFE PRODUCTS tend to be more profitable than those two that dominate the Tanzanian market in Life Assurance
GLA - scale. Very potential b'se one contract covers many lives, distribution through employers keeps acquisition cost per life low. Therefore, the product makes a profit, but on the other hand, large claim events or sometimes poor underwriting can push loss ratios up.
GCL products are mostly profitable and their scale is quite good since they do not offer a high claim ratio and making it be very sustainable.
Other sources say that INDIVIDUAL LIFE PRODUCTS are the slowest to scale b'se distribution and acquisition costs are high since the products often require medical checks or advice. But profitability per policy, as margins can be high especially for long duration or unit linked savings products.
Overall, the profitability depends on heavy upfront acquisition costs, persistence (surrender and lapse) and underwriting quality.
what is your opinion’s on this, drop the comment and Let's see if we can do something about this, to enable the life insurance penetrating in Tanzania and industry growth.