Insurance sector can contribute 3% to GDP – Jornal OPaís

The ambition of the Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency (ARSEG) is based on strong market potential and the reality of the region, but requires work to achieve growth of more than 2%

The chairman of the Board of Directors (PCA) of the Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency (ARSEG), Elmer Serrão, told the press, at the weekend, that the objective is to see the insurance sector growing and that it can contribute around 3% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A leveling that is not random, but based on the level of contribution of the sector in the SADC region, which according to Elmer Serrão is around these levels, with the most relevant example being South Africa. But, to reach these levels, there is a lot of work to be done, starting with financial literacy issues, with a focus on specific insurance literacy issues.

Only in this way, pointed out ARSEG’s PCA, can we make people realize the importance of insurance for their lives and, consequently, decide to pay for the services. An issue that is far from being new and exclusive to insurance, but which greatly affects the sector to the point where the sector’s contribution stands at 0.8%, a level considered low by the head of ARSEG.

When speaking regarding the subject, the member of the sector association, José Araújo, told OPAÍS that the data highlights the need for work in the field of insurance education, but also the need for work on the part of sector entities, which have to leaving your comfort zone and reaching areas you haven’t reached yet. Only in this way, said the interlocutor, can the sector’s revenues grow and contribute more to GDP.

Premium growth

Despite this, things are not all bad in the insurance sector. Premiums grew, as did compensation payments. This time, compensation stood at 49 billion kwanzas in 2023. In addition, the life sector, which was previously limited to 3% of the sector’s portfolio, grew and now, according to data provided by ARSEG’s PCA, Today it represents 9% of the total portfolio.

Another important fact, perhaps even the most important of the entire development of the sector, is related to its growth potential. Let’s see that the market itself has great growth potential, looking at the population growth rate, then at the low level of financial literacy. As if that were not enough, as was said by players in the sector, there are still many services, that is, fields to be explored, the cases of agricultural insurance that are not yet negotiated in our market, when there are many entities working in the sector, at the same time that there has been a commitment by the State to food security.

BY: Ladislau Francisco