Pipo Insuretech

A glance at some of products for in ?

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Successive studies have revealed that small businesses in Kenya rarely use insurance as a form of risk mitigation.

Yet this category of entrepreneurs is at a high risk of being wiped out of business in case of a tragedy like fire, flooding, theft, online fraud among others.

There are several factors leading to failure by to take insurance cover. They include;
Where the enterprise owner thinks the business is too small to qualify for insurance. Examples include a , a -based business (cottage industry), business located in an open air market etc.
There is on benefits of -mitigation among many small scale business owners.
Many small business owners think that .
Others opt for to prevent .
 have not invested enough to on , and .

Small business owners - and here we are talking from the micro to medium scale - must know that # insurance is a critical business tool that they should use to that form the biggest to their business.

This in a nutshell is to ensure that in case of a tragedy that knocks out your business, your have a to return the business to its former status.

will help an enterprise do the following;
Restore previous stock levels.
Rebuild premises.
Pay for injuries sustained by either business owner, employee or a 3rd party during the tragedy.
Ensure business continuity without raising new capital from loans and/or savings.
Give freedom of mind to the business owner.
Prevent the business owner from getting poor and continue creating wealth and job opportunities.

Our graphics show the range of insurance products available for SMEs in Kenya. The list is not exhaustive.

There are companies that offer bundled business insurance policies that cover a range of risks. For example, BizBora by ICEA Lion combines seven business insurance products and provides a chance to tailor the product to a business needs.
Stanbic Bank has a product known as SME BizSure Insurance Plan that eliminates the need to take out individual policies to cover different facets of your business

Old Mutual has BiasharaSure Cover that offer benefits from different classes of insurance such as burglary, all-risk and combined liability.

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How fits into savings plan

Steve Mbogo

When you have saved some money, nothing compares to peace of mind knowing that you have a back-up in case of an emergency.

Not only is saved money likely to be readily available, it is free such that you do not have to pay interest on it. Tapping your means you avoid the embarrassment of borrowing from family and friends and certainly the risk exposure of getting it from a .

President William has severally spoken about the need to increase our national savings. Essentially, he is telling every Kenyan to either increase the amount they save or start saving.

There are many ways to save money and one of them is by buying a life policy.

The president’s motivation is to improve domestic resource mobilization because increase the pool of money from which the government can borrow to finance its activities.

Domestic borrowing may not necessarily be cheaper for the government but it has several advantages. Borrowing in local currency avoids foreign exchange repayment losses. Interest paid on local borrowing benefits . It reduces the risk of an external debt crisis and brings pride to the country for financing its investments with its own resources.

Central Bank of Kenya's national debt update shows that by December 2021, Kenya had borrowed nearly equal amounts from domestic and foreign markets. Domestic debt was Ksh4.03 trillion while external debt was slightly higher at Ksh4.17 trillion.

Life to the rescue



Life is defined as a between you and an company where you commit to paying a certain amount of premium and the company commits to pay a lump sum after a set period or in case of death, illness or accident.

Most products are long-term. This means that the amount of money saved is available for a long time for the government to . It also means the money will be incremental because premiums are paid in progressive intervals.

Kenya’s gross national savings averaged 8.2% of Gross Domestic Product (total value of goods and services produced in a year) as of the end of 2021 according to the . This compares poorly to economies such as Singapore whose gross domestic savings rate is 53.8%, India at 28.2% and Botswana at 23.4%.

What should companies do?

Kenya already has various life products to choose from. A key challenge for insurers is to invest more in , and of these products.

While previously said they were constrained to finance consistent advertising campaigns because of high ad-space costs in the traditional media of newspapers and television, the internet and especially the social media part of it presents and opportunities which can lead to better uptake of life products.

Another opportunity is presented by investing more in , innovating new digital life products or remodeling existing ones to align to the market needs of the potential mass buyers represented by and the .

How the government can become a enabler

It would be futile for President Ruto to promote the agenda of increasing while his administration is increasing and failing to provide cutting-edge leadership that will reduce the overall cost of living especially on and .

All pointers indicate an increase in taxation by Kenya Revenue Authority . The current intervention of in agriculture will depend on the performance of short-term .

Several studies indicate that for a country to increase its national savings, people must be empowered to have after spending on basic needs. The private sector must be enabled to thrive and create more jobs providing more people with income that they can spend and .

As the new Chancellor of the Exchequer for the United Kingdom Kwasi Kwarteng has said; “Taxing our way to prosperity has never worked”, while reversing higher rates imposed on the National Insurance by the previous administration.

What are some of the ideas that President has to increase savings? One of his regular mentions has been the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). As the president may be well aware, this institution has a negative reputation because of past unresolved corruption issues. It needs an overhaul of its structure and leadership.

What I mean is that beyond NSSF@NSSF_ke, the government should bring new ideas to the table, for example, partner with the private sector to start digital long-term savings products.

Government can provide the digital infrastructure while the private sector brings the products to the table. The government borrowing guarantees the demand for the funds mobilized through such an arrangement.

The opportunity to raise Kenya’s national savings to at least 20% is a great idea and should be pursued relentlessly.