African govts urged to improve data access to tweak insurance

EXPERTS have made fresh calls for African governments to improve data access to expand the insurance sector, seen as a key pillar in supporting economic development.

The availability of data sets is crucial for the insurance sector as they enable more accurate risk assessment and pricing.

By analysing extensive historical data, insurers can identify patterns and trends that help them predict future risks more accurately.

This allows for better underwriting practices, where premiums are more closely aligned with the actual risk profiles of policyholders.

During the ongoing Organisation for Eastern and Southern Africa Insurers (OESAI) 46th annual conference and annual general meeting (AGM) in Victoria Falls on Tuesday, Risk Shield Consulting Actuary managing director Agrotosh Moorkejee said it was key to improve data access.

“I think this is an area where government has a big role to play to make data a public good. A lot of the data set, which are for the public good, should be made easily accessible to the insurance sector,” he said.

“But beyond that, I would really encourage insurers as well as reinsurers to look at what data is available from other sources like satellites, for example, when looking to have better access to associated market research.”

Moorkejee said capacity building was required, including for the aggregators and the distribution channel, because one of the barriers being faced as a sector was the banks’ understanding of insurance.

“So, it is important to sit down with these types of institutions [banks] as well as the agri-businesses to explain how insurance can help their businesses and what ways are important to assess the data quality,” he said.

Moorkejee added that finalising insurance products in good time to improve continuity of products over the years, at the same time, increased farmer-level and aggregator-level understanding of products to support voluntary uptake and up-selling.

“As part of the recommendations, I think it is also key to look into ways of reducing operational expenses, for example, data acquisition costs, yield assessment costs for yield-index and so on,” he said.

“It is also important to have regulations and policies to encourage/force financial institutions, insurers to engage in agricultural insurance.”

During the annual conference and AGM, it was revealed that data sets facilitate the detection and prevention of fraud, a significant issue in the insurance industry.

Advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms can analyse claims data to identify suspicious patterns and anomalies that may indicate fraudulent activities, experts say.

This proactive approach to fraud detection not only saves insurers substantial amounts of money, but also helps in maintaining trust and credibility with genuine policyholders.

Additionally, having comprehensive data sets enables insurers to provide personalised products and services, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty, experts say.

OESAI is a member-based insurance organisation that aims to promote the business and practice of insurance across eastern and southern Africa.

The annual conference and AGM ends today.-newsday