By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
THE insurance industry is expected to expand with enhanced local player participation following the signing of the new insurance act of 2021, says Insurers Association of Zambia (IAZ) president, Christabel Banda.
The insurance Act of 2021 which has repealed and replaced the insurance act of 1997 was recently signed into law.
Commenting on this, Ms Banda stressed that the new Act had progressive elements which spur growth in the industry while promoting more local participation.
Ms Banda said IAZ was eager to promote development, industry growth and the welfare of all Zambians emphasising that insurance was critical for financial protection and recovery when misfortunes happened.
She therefore explained that the new Act under section 49 provided that a licenced insurer and reinsurer would not have less than 30 percent of its share capital to owned by citizens of the Zambia. The section, Ms Banda said, further provided for not less than 50 percent of share capital in broking firms being owned by Zambian citizens.
“This is important to ensure that the Zambian citizens play a bigger role in the insurance sector, and invest resources locally. We look forward to seeing greater level participation in the sector,” she said in a statement.
Ms Banda said the Act would also ensure that the informal sector has more insurance options for financial protection.
She explained that the Act allowed for the registration of an additional class of insurers in addition to general insurance and life insurance.
“This is progressive as it will ensure that the informal sector will have more insurance options for financial protection.
“Insurance protection for low income sections of Society is also important so that we reduce the cases of destitution or insurmountable debt when disaster strikes,” Ms Banda said.
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