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An agreement to improve the capacity of smallholder farmers in Zambia by improving their access to climate and other inclusive insurance products has been sealed by the Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) and International Finance Corporation.
This will run until 2025 to facilitate the Zambia Climate Insurance Market Development Project.
The Project aims to facilitate the issuance of at least 1.5 million insurance policies and the generation of a total gross premium volume of at least US$4 million by its completion date in 2025, says PIA acting Registrar, Namakau Ntini.
Ntini explained that activities under the Project would seek to improve the insurance market’s capacity to develop, underwrite, and effectively distribute inclusive climate insurance products, and insurance consumer awareness.
“This will be achieved through enhancing local capacity, facilitating knowledge exchange with other markets, and supporting insurers in efficiently scaling up their climate insurance business.
“The Project will also explore the implementation of specific actions which may increase access to climate insurance for rural women in Zambia,” she said at a media workshop in Chongwe on Wednesday.
Ntini mentioned that PAI had entered into a number of partnerships aimed at helping it meet the financial inclusion agenda in line with government policy by working with international and local partners.
Meanwhile, Ntini said the pensions industry registered an increase in the net asset value to K12.82 billion as at December 31, 2022 from K10.84 billion as at 31st December 2021, representing an increase of 18.27 percent.
She attributed to mainly increased investments in Government followed by listed equities and offshore investments.
“The pension’s industry returns on average net assets increased from 10.12 as at 31st December 2022 compared to 9.90 percent inflation at the end of 2022. This demonstrate that the purchasing power of pension funds was preserved as a positive real return was recorded,” she said.
Ntini indicated that gross written premium for the insurance sector for 2022 was estimated at K6.02 billion compared to K 5.343 billion recorded in 2021, representing a year on year growth of 13 percent.
She stated that the long-term insurance sector accounted for K2.168 billion while general insurance accounted for K3.858 billion.
“The key drivers of growth included, among others, the increased or heightened awareness of the role of insurance in mitigating risks (following the Covid-19 pandemic), increased awareness due to various interventions – consumer education, innovation and partnership among key strategic partners.
“Total net claims settled increased to K2.38 billion as at December 31, 2022 compared with K1.735 billion paid in 2021,” she said.
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