Vision for East Africa's Insurance Future

I have spent 23 years in East African insurance. I have led a Direct Sales Force that has won AKI Company of the Year four times. I qualified as Africa's first LIMRA Associate Insurance Agency Manager.

Here is what I believe will define the next chapter of this industry — and it is not what most people are talking about.

Everyone is focused on technology. Digital onboarding. AI underwriting. Insurtech platforms. And those things matter — I am not dismissing them.

But I have seen what the LIMRA research consistently shows. I have seen what works and what fails across three countries, hundreds of agents, and over two decades on the ground. And the conclusion is the same every time:

Technology does not close the insurance gap. People do.

The markets that grow fastest will not be won by whoever builds the best app. They will be won by whoever builds the most trusted, most capable, most motivated direct sales force on the ground.

Here is where I am focused for the next chapter:

Depth over volume in training. Moving beyond product knowledge into true consultative selling — understanding what a client actually needs before presenting a solution. That is where retention and persistency are built.

Sharper recruitment standards. Four Company of the Year titles taught me that quality of agent is more important than quantity. The LIMRA selection frameworks have sharpened how we identify who will genuinely last.

True cross-border capability. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are three distinct markets — different regulations, different cultures, different client behaviours. Applying one template to all three is a shortcut that costs you in the long run.

Reaching the informal sector. The formal distribution channels will never reach informal market workers at scale. The Direct Sales Force can — if it is built and deployed correctly.

East Africa's insurance story is still being written. After 23 years, four national titles, and the conviction that the best chapters are still ahead — I have never been more energised about what comes next.